On March 15, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemned a series of court decisions in Azerbaijan extending the pre-trial detention of six journalists with the anti-corruption investigative news outlet “Abzas Media.”
“As Azerbaijan sweeps up and detains critical journalists across the country, this latest decision to extend the incarceration of “Abzas Media” staff illustrates authorities’ steadfast determination to censor its best and brightest reporters by locking them up,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, in New York. “Authorities in Azerbaijan should immediately drop all charges against “Abzas Media” staff, release all unjustly jailed journalists, and end their crackdown on the independent press.”
If found guilty, the six journalists, who have all been charged with conspiracy to smuggle currency, could face up to eight years in prison under Article 206.3.2 of Azerbaijan’s Criminal Code.
In separate hearings on March 14 and 15, the Khatai District Court in the capital, Baku, extended by three months the detention of “Abzas Media” director Ulvi Hasanli, chief editor Sevinj Vagifgizi, and project manager Mahammad Kekalov, the Committee to Protect Journalists reports.
“The crackdown on “Abzas Media” – an outlet known for investigating allegations of corruption among senior state officials -began in November when police raided its offices and accused staff of illegally bringing Western donor money into Azerbaijan,” the CPJ noted.
The “Abzas Media” staff are among 10 journalists from three independent media outlets currently jailed in Azerbaijan, amid a decline in relations between Azerbaijan and the West, the statement reads.
Earlier in March, police raided “Toplum TV’s” office and a court ordered that founder of this media platform Alasgar Mammadli and video-editor Mushfig Jabbar be detained for four months pending investigation on currency smuggling charges.
Broadcaster “Channel 13’s” director Aziz Orujov, and reporter Shamo Eminov have been in jail since November and December, respectively, on the same charges, CPJ stated.