Reporters Without Borders calls to stop the wave of repression against journalists in Azerbaijan

Baku/05.12.23/Turan: Six journalists have been arrested in Azerbaijan over the past two weeks and this rampant repressive machine must be stopped, a press release from the international organization for the protection of the press, Reporters Without Borders.

The presenter of “Channel 13,” Rufat Muradli, was arrested for 30 days for "disobeying" the police. Before that, its director and four employees of “Abzas Media” were arrested. All this has happened in the last two weeks.

Finally, two independent journalists, Aytaj Mammadli and Shahla Kerim, were detained on December 2 while preparing a report at a market in the city of Lankaran. They were detained for the second time on December 4, when they were interviewing passers-by in Lankaran. The police interrogated them, accused them of espionage, and erased the video from their cameras.

"We are witnessing a real hunt confirming the goal of the Azerbaijani authorities: to eliminate all independent voices revealing the actions of the corrupt political elite. Arbitrary arrests, violence, falsification of evidence. We condemn this repressive wave and call on the Council of Europe to remind the regime of its obligations and release all journalists," the press release says. -0-