Recent Trend Of Detaining Journalists in Azerbaijan 'Deeply Troubling', State Department Says
The State Department reacted to the latest arrest in Azerbaijan's media crackdown. Journalist Hafiz Babali from an anticorruption outlet AbzasMedia, who also works as economics editor at Turan News Agency, was detained yesterday on trumped-up charges before court placed him in pre-trial detention for 3 months.
"The recent trend of detaining journalists is deeply troubling. We continue to urge the Azerbaijani government to respect the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all, including those exercising freedom of expression," a State Department spokesperson told TURAN's Washington correspondent.
Like his other detained AbzasMedia colleagues, Mr. Babali faces up to 8 years in prison on currency smuggling charges the outlet dismisses as retaliation for its investigations into senior state officials.
Politics
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The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (OPHRD), a joint program of the World Organization against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), has called for the urgent release of activist Rufat Safarov from prison in Azerbaijan. It has launched a campaign in support of the Azerbaijani human rights defender. https://www.omct.org/en/resources/urgent-interventions/arbitrary-detention-and-judicial-harassment-against-rufat-safarov
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This year, the laureate of the annual Nargiz Prize, awarded for efforts in the fight for democracy, was Akif Gurbanov, chairman of the board of the Resplatforma (Platform of the III Republic) movement, who is under arrest.
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The U.S. will prohibit the issuing of visas for nearly a dozen more individuals responsible for undermining democracy in Georgia, bringing the total number to over 100, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.
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The President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, has expressed condolences to the President of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, following the tragic incident in the city of Magdeburg. "We are deeply shocked by the news of the deaths and injuries resulting from the tragic incident that took place at the Christmas market in Magdeburg," the message reads.
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