Reporters Without Borders calls for release of detained Azerbaijani journalists
Six employees of an independent news channel were detained last Friday and remanded in custody on Sunday, December 8. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said it condemned the detentions, “which are part of a systematic strategy to silence critical voices against the Aliyev regime,” and called for their immediate release.
“Just a month after Ilham Aliyev’s regime staged a pompous COP29 to boost its international image, it is cynically renewing its crackdown on journalists. The detention of six Meydan TV journalists is further proof that it is prepared to ruthlessly repress anyone who dares to inform the citizens of Azerbaijan. RSF demands the immediate release of these journalists, as well as the 13 other illegally detained journalists, and calls on the international community not to turn a blind eye to these serious and systematic violations of fundamental rights,” said Jeanne Cavelier, head of RSF’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk.
On 6 December, freelance journalist Ramin Deko Jabrailzade was detained, as were five employees of the Germany-based Azerbaijani media outlet Meydan TV: Aynur Elgunesh Gambarova, Natig Javadli, Khayala Agayeva, Aytaj Tapdig Akhmadova and Aysel Umudova. Two days later, after searches of some of their homes, the six journalists were remanded in custody for four months on charges of “smuggling foreign currency.” They face up to eight years in prison. As Reporters Without Borders notes, this pretext has been used regularly since the new wave of repression that began in November 2023. In particular, similar charges were brought against journalists from Toplum TV and Abzas Media, whose trial will begin on December 17.
Azerbaijan ranks 164th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2024 World Press Freedom Index.
