CPJ condemned extension of arrest of "Abzas Media" journalists

The International Committee for Protection of Journalists (ICPJ) expressed alarm over the decisions of the courts in Azerbaijan, which extended the pre-trial detention of six journalists of the anti-corruption investigative publication "Abzas Media", accused of smuggling currency.

On June 12, the ICPJ issued a statement in connection with the extension of the pre-trial detention of journalists from "Abzas Media". It notes that the Khatai district court of Baku on Wednesday, June 12, extended for three months the preliminary detention of the director of "Abzas Media" Ulvi Hasanli, the editor-in-chief "Sevinj Vagifgyzy and the manager of this project Mohammad Kekalov. A day earlier, the same court extended the detention of journalist Nargiz Absalamova for three months, and on Monday – for one month and two months, respectively, to journalists Hafiz Babaly and Elnara Gasymova. The police raided "Abzas Media" and began arresting its employees in November 2023 on charges of conspiring to illegally import money from Western donor organizations into the country, the ICPJ recalled.

According to the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan, six journalists charged with conspiracy to smuggle currency face up to eight years of imprisonment if found guilty, the organization's statement emphasises.Tha "ICPJ is deeply disappointed that the Azerbaijani authorities have once again extended the unjustified detention of six "Abzas Media" journalists, and regards the charges against them as retaliation for critical reporting," Gulnoza Said, coordinator of the ICPJ programs for Europe and Central Asia, in New York, was quoted in the statement. The Azerbaijani authorities must immediately release all detained employees of "Abzas Media" and drop charges against 13 journalists in the country who are currently facing similar charges. Journalists should not become victims of Azerbaijan's diplomatic clashes with the West, she stressed. The employees of "Abzas Media"are among 11 journalists from four independent media outlets who are currently imprisoned in Azerbaijan on similar charges amid deteriorating relations between Azerbaijan and the West. Two more were released under a travel ban pending trial. "Abzas Media" called these accusations as reprisal for a series of investigations into corruption crimes by high-ranking Azerbaijani officials. In April, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev rejected criticism of the arrests, saying that media representatives illegally receiving funding from abroad were arrested within the framework of the law, the ICPJ recalled. On May 21, the court extended for a month the detention of Kanal-13 director Aziz Orujev and journalist Shamo Eminov on similar charges, the ICPJ statement concluded.