The United States has raised the issue of media crackdown 'on a number of occasions' with Azerbaijan, the State Department said on Thursday, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.
"I’m not going to speak to any specific engagement, but yes, we have raised this on a number of occasions with them," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told a daily briefing when asked by TURAN on the latest media clampdown which led to this week's arrest of leading anti-corruption journalist Hafiz Babali, along with others.
"... The recent trend of detaining journalists is deeply troubling, and we continue to urge the Azerbaijani Government to respect the human rights and fundamental freedoms of everyone, including those exercising freedom of expression," Miller said.
Babali is at least the seventh member or press arrested in Azerbaijan in the past three weeks.
Politics
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On November 15, animal rights activist Kamran Mammadli was detained while staging a protest at the COP29 climate conference. Mammadli was protesting the shooting of street dogs in Azerbaijan. He raised a sign above his head that read: "Azerbaijani authorities are shooting dogs on the streets!" He also shouted: "Resign those who teach youth to be sycophants under the guise of volunteerism!"
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Arrested Abzas Media journalists were pressured in Baku pretrial detention center No. 1.
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On November 15, the Tbilisi City Court heard the merits of the complaint filed by the head of the Azerbaijani website Azel.TV, Afgan Sadygov, against the denial of political asylum in Georgia.
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The United States has been working with Azerbaijan for a long time on energy issues and fossil fuel emissions, particularly focusing on technologies that reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and help transition to clean energy, the U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm stated at a press conference on November 15 during COP29 in Baku, in response to a question from Turan about how the U.S. can assist Azerbaijan in its transition to renewable and green energy.
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