New York, December 5, 2014--An Azerbaijani court in Baku today ordered the imprisonment of award-winning investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova for two months pending trial after a local man accused her of urging him to commit suicide, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the ruling and calls on authorities in Azerbaijan to stop their prosecution of Ismayilova, who also faces chargesof libel in a separate case.
"We call on Azerbaijani authorities to stop gagging reporters through trumped-up charges and arrests, and immediately release Khadija Ismayilova," said Muzaffar Suleymanov, CPJ's Europe and Central Asia research associate. "The politicized nature of the arrest is obvious--an award-winning reporter is being harassed for her work in Azerbaijan."
CPJ has documented a pattern in which Azerbaijani authorities file trumped-up charges against journalists whose coverage has been at odds with official views.
Politics
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An appeal has been filed against the arrest of journalist Shahnaz Beylergizi, her lawyer Bakhtiyar Hajiyev told the Turan agency on Friday.
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On February 6, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met with U.S. Vice President James Vance in Washington. "Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan met with U.S. Vice President James Vance at the White House in Washington. During the meeting, issues related to bilateral relations as well as regional affairs were discussed," reported Pashinyan's press service.
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By a decree of the head of state dated February 7, Anar Aliyev was appointed as the Minister of Labor and Social Protection. Prior to this, he held the position of Deputy Minister.
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Afghan Sadygov, the head of the Azerbaijani website Azel.TV, who was arrested in Georgia at the request of Baku, ended his dry hunger strike on February 6, which he had started on February 2. However, he is still refusing food and is only drinking water. His hunger strike has now lasted 142 days, said his wife, Sevinc Sadygova, in an interview with the Turan agency on February 7. The Georgian Center for Social Justice (CSJ), which defends Afghan Sadygov's rights, issued a statement expressing concern about his condition.
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