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Azerbaijan: Authorities intensifying crackdown on independent media
Reacting to the news that another independent Azerbaijani journalist, Teymur Karimov, was arrested on Monday in Baku and now faces criminal charges, Natalia Nozadze, Amnesty International’s South Caucasus Researcher, said:
“The arrest of Teymur Karimov follows a disturbing pattern of spurious charges being brought against journalists and other critical voices in Azerbaijan. What we are witnessing is an escalating crackdown on independent media, which began with the arrest of the leadership of the independent Abzas Media and Kanal 13 in late November.
The arrest of Teymur Karimov follows a disturbing pattern of spurious charges being brought against journalists and other critical voices in Azerbaijan
Natalia Nozadze, Amnesty International’s South Caucasus Researcher
“What’s unfolding is worryingly reminiscent of the crackdowns on independent media, media freedom and civil society seen in 2012 and 2015, which decimated civil society in Azerbaijan, saw the closure of critical outlets and NGOs, and the persecution and arbitrary arrests of dozens of human rights defenders and activists.”
Background
On 12 December 2023, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan confirmed the arrest of Teymur Karimov, the head of the independent YouTube news channel Kanal-11, who had gone missing a day earlier. According to officials, a criminal case was opened against him under Article 182 of the Criminal Code (“extortion”).
Since November, authorities have arrested at least six journalists, placing them in pretrial detention on what appear to be fabricated charges. Those arrested include the director of Abzas Media, Ulvi Hasanli; chief editor Sevinj Vagifgyzy; journalist Nargiz Absalamova; contributor Mahammad Kekalov; the founder of Kanal 13, Aziz Orujov; and its host, Rufat Muradli. A handful of other journalists were called in for questioning and reported being harassed and threatened against continuing their journalistic activities and critical reporting.-0-
Politics
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Armenia is not against the dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group, but does not consider it appropriate to discuss this issue now. "In the context of peace, we consider it possible to make a decision on the dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group. When peace is an established fact, the existence of such a format may raise questions," Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at a press conference today. "The whole question is about the timing, we need to understand how effectively and correctly to turn such topics into a subject of discussion right now," the Armenian Prime Minister added.
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He expressed his willingness to meet with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev at the border between the two countries. "A meeting with Ilham Aliyev could take place at the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. I am open to such a format," Pashinyan said at a press conference today. According to Pashinyan, Armenia recently presented another proposal for a peace treaty to Azerbaijan.
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On August 31, Azerbaijan observes a "day of silence" before the Sunday’s early parliamentary elections for the unicameral Milli Majlis. All electoral campaigning is prohibited 24 hours before the voting. The early elections were initiated by the ruling Yeni Azerbaijan Party. This decision was motivated by the overlap of the scheduled elections in November with the global UN forum - the COP20 climate conference taking place in Baku.
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On August 30, at approximately 22:55, the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant in Metsamor was disconnected from the country's power grid, as reported by the Armenian Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure. The shutdown was caused by a lightning strike, which triggered the plant's safety systems to switch the station to a safe shutdown mode. Currently, the plant's staff is working on restarting the facility.
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