CPJ condemned extension of arrest terms for journalists in Azerbaijan

In recent weeks, the Azerbaijani authorities have extended the pre-trial detention of 11 journalists as part of an ongoing crackdown on the country's few remaining independent media outlets, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said in a statement.

The journalists are among 13 media workers from four independent outlets accused since November of currency smuggling related to allegedly receiving funding from Western donors. The charges come amid deteriorating relations between Azerbaijan and the West and the country's preparations for the COP29 climate conference in November, CPJ further notes.

"Azerbaijan must stop using imprisonment and travel bans as tactics to silence and intimidate journalists," said Carlos Martinez de la Serna, CPJ's program director in New York. "Authorities should drop all charges and restrictions on their movements and immediately release those still in custody," he added. CPJ lists the journalists who have had their pre-trial detention extended since 10 June:

- Investigative journalist Hafiz Babaly ( two-month and one-week extension 9 July)

- “Toplum TV” video editor Mushfig Jabbar (three-month extension, 4 July).

- Founder of “Toplum TV” Alesker Mammadli ( three-month extension , 3 July)

- “Kanal 13” Director Aziz Orudjev (three-month extension, 25 June)

- “Kanal 13” journalist Shamo Eminov ( three-month extension , 25 June)

- Founder of “Meclis.info” Imran Aliyev ( two-month extension , 13 June)

- “Abzas Media” director Ulvi Hasanli; Editor-in-chief Sevinc Vagifgyzy and project manager Mahammad Kekalov (three-month extension, 12 June).

- “Abzas Media” journalist Nargiz Absalamova (three-month extension, 11 June)

-“ Abzas Media” journalist Elnara Gasymova (two-month extension, 10 June).

Authorities have rejected numerous requests by Mammadli's lawyers to transfer him to house arrest to allow him to undergo further examinations for suspected thyroid cancer, and he has filed a complaint with the UN Human Rights Council after relatives said medical examinations conducted while he was in police custody were incomplete. ”Toplum TV” journalists Farid Ismailov and Elmir Abbasov have been released on their own recognizance pending trial. All journalists face up to eight years in prison if found guilty under Article 206.3.2 of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijani law requires official approval of foreign grants, which is routinely denied, while authorities pressure advertisers to squeeze domestic sources of funding.

Separately, police questioned Shamshad Agha, head of the independent news website Arqument.az and a former Toplum TV journalist, as a witness in the Toplum TV case on 5 July and informed him that he was under a travel ban, the journalist told local media. CPJ is investigating reports that at least 20 other journalists may also be banned from leaving the country and some are subject to having their bank accounts frozen.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, who won a fifth consecutive term in February, rejected criticism of the arrests, saying Azerbaijan "must protect [its] media environment from external negative influence," and media representatives "who illegally receive funding from abroad" were arrested within the law, he said.   

CPJ sent an email to the Interior Ministry seeking comment on the extension of the pre-trial detention and travel ban, and to the Prison Service seeking comment on Mammadli's medical examination, but received no responses.