CPJ Condemns the Arrest of Meydan TV Journalists

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has condemned the arrest of six journalists and media workers in Azerbaijan, including five staff members of Meydan TV and one freelance journalist. "At around noon, independent journalist Ramin Jebrailzadeh (also known as Ramin Deko) was detained at Baku airport upon his arrival from neighboring Georgia, where he had been covering pro-European protests. At the same time, law enforcement officers in different parts of the city detained Natig Javadhli, Khayala Agaeva, Aytac Tapdyg, Aynur Elgunesh, and Aysel Umudova, who work with the Germany-based independent media outlet Meydan TV," the CPJ statement reads.

All six were suspected of illegal currency smuggling and were taken to the Main Police Directorate of Baku, according to the CPJ, citing Meydan TV. Some of the detained journalists had their apartments searched.

"The detention of several Meydan TV journalists, which occurred just as the UN climate conference COP29 concluded in Baku, is a sign of the Azerbaijani authorities' intention to continue their brutal crackdown on the media and a slap in the face to both the UN and the democratic governments that recently visited Baku to shake hands with Azerbaijani officials," said Gulnoza Sayeed, the CPJ's Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator.

"Azerbaijani authorities must immediately release Natig Javadhli, Khayala Agaeva, Aytac Tapdyg, Aynur Elgunesh, Aysel Umudova, and Ramin Deko, as well as more than a dozen other prominent journalists arrested on similar charges in recent months, and put an end to their unprecedented assault on independent media," she added.

The CPJ statement noted that the Ministry of Internal Affairs claimed that the journalists were detained "in connection with the illegal import of foreign currency into the country."

The leadership of Meydan TV denied "all allegations" and called the arrest and interrogation of the journalists "illegal," as emphasized by the CPJ.

Over the past year, Azerbaijani authorities have pressed criminal charges against at least 15 journalists in retaliation for their work, 13 of whom are currently in pretrial detention. Most of those behind bars work for the last remaining independent media outlets in Azerbaijan and face charges of currency smuggling related to alleged funding from Western donors, the CPJ reminds.