Reporters Without Borders calls on Azerbaijani authorities to release Abzas Media staff
Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières) has published an appeal to the Azerbaijani authorities and the Aliyev regime's international partners in support of the arrested Abzas Media editor-in-chief Sevinj Vagifgizi and five of her colleagues. In the text, RSF condemned the repression and lawlessness in Azerbaijan, against which today's hearings in the case of the aforementioned representatives of the independent press will take place. According to the organization, partner countries should respond to the situation by putting forward a condition for further cooperation to the Azerbaijani authorities - an end to the use of the judicial system to suppress the media.
Reporters Without Borders emphasizes that none of the defendants in the Abzas Media case plead guilty to the eight unfounded charges brought against them, including "smuggling foreign currency." However, despite the lack of compelling evidence, the journalists face up to 12 years in prison.
"Fabricated charges, muzzled lawyers, journalists not allowed into the courtroom" - this is how RSF summarizes the chronicle of the trial of Sevinc Vagifgizi and her colleagues. The appeal notes that during the preliminary hearings held on December 17, 2024, reporters who wanted to cover the trial were not allowed into the courtroom under the pretext of a lack of free seats, although it was filled with people unrelated to the case. In addition, "the defense's legitimate motions, in particular to transfer the case for additional investigation, to replace pretrial detention with house arrest or to hand over video recordings attached to the case documents to the lawyers, were rejected, which confirms the lawless nature of the proceedings."
The authors of the appeal also draw attention to the fact that two of the three judges hearing the case were previously the subjects of investigations published by Abzas Media, exposing their dependence on the Aliyev regime.
“The persecution of Sevinc Vagifgizi and her colleagues, renowned for their investigations into corruption at the highest levels of government, demonstrates the authoritarian course of Ilham Aliyev’s regime. These prosecutions are part of a broader strategy aimed at discrediting and neutralizing independent media outlets like Abzas Media, which undermine the regime by exposing abuses of power. RSF demands their immediate release and calls on Azerbaijan’s international partners, in particular the European Union, to condition their cooperation on concrete progress on press freedom,” said Jeanne Cavelier, head of RSF’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk.
Sevinc Vagifgizi, editor-in-chief of Abzas Media, was detained at Baku airport on her return from Istanbul on 21 November 2023. Her pre-trial detention and that of other employees of the outlet have been repeatedly extended. As a result, she has been held in appalling conditions and subjected to psychological and physical pressure for over a year now.
The arrest of the Abzas Media journalists marks the beginning of a new wave of repression in Azerbaijan, according to Reporters Without Borders. At least 20 employees of local independent media outlets are now behind bars, according to the organization. Azerbaijan ranks 164th out of 180 countries in RSF's World Press Freedom Index last year.
