Appeal court keeps journalists Orujev and Eminov in custody

On 27 May, the Baku Court of Appeal did not satisfy the appeals of Aziz Orujev, head of "Kanal 13" Internet TV, and Shamo Eminov, an employee of the same media structure, to extend their arrest for another month. This was reported to Turan by Orujev's wife Lamiya Orujeva and Eminov's lawyer Alibaba Rzayev.

The defence considers the detention of journalists and bringing them to criminal responsibility as unreasonable.

Moreover, both journalists have serious health problems, Orujev has been in a prison hospital since mid-March.

Aziz Orujev was detained on 27 November 2023 and charged with illegal construction and the court arrested him for three months.

On 19 December, he was charged again under Article 206.3.2 (smuggling by prior conspiracy by a group of persons) of the Criminal Code. At that, Orujev faces up to eight years of imprisonment.

Note that Aziz Orujev had already been sentenced in 2017 to 6 years of imprisonment on charges of illegal entrepreneurship. In 2018, the Supreme Court dropped a part of the charges against him and replaced the real term with a suspended sentence.

** Shamo Eminov, a freelance journalist collaborating with "Kanal-13", was detained on 22 December and arrested for three months on charges of "smuggling of foreign currency by prior conspiracy by a group of persons" (Article 206.3.2 of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan).