Shahin Rzajev got off lightly: a court had actually imposed 15 days of administrative detention on the journalist who was arrested on January 15th. The editor of the independent news site JAMNews swore when he was arrested and was therefore guilty of petty hooliganism, according to the Azerbaijani Interior Ministry. But overnight the court changed the sentence: the prison sentence was converted into a fine of the equivalent of $30. Rzajev, who denies the accusations, was allowed to go home.
The release of the editor remains the exception in Azerbaijan for the time being: President Ilham Aliyev has been subjecting the last independent media in the Caucasus republic to a series of arrests for more than two months. At least 13 journalists have been arrested so far, and eleven have been ordered detained for up to four months. If convicted, they face long prison sentences. Observers speak of the biggest blow to Azerbaijan's journalists since 2014, when Aliyev largely destroyed the free press in the South Caucasus republic after his second re-election. This time too, the repressive measures are related to an election cycle: early presidential elections, which were originally scheduled for 2025, will take place in Azerbaijan on Wednesday. Critical reporting is undesirable.
“We are very concerned”
The repression began in mid-November last year with the arrests of Uvli Hasanli and Mahamad Kekalov. The managing director of Abzas Media and the disability rights activist who cooperates with the medium are accused of smuggling in foreign currency. This carries a prison sentence of up to eight years. During a raid on the editorial office, the security authorities allegedly found 40,000 euros. Hasanli objected that the money had been foisted on him. With the arrest, Ilham Aliyev is responding to research into corruption in the presidential family, according to a statement from the media. Abzas Media had reported, among other things, on the preferential awarding of lucrative construction contracts in the conquered Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh to companies owned by the head of state's daughters. Four months of pre-trial detention were ordered for Hasanli and Kekalov, as well as editor-in-chief Sevinj Vagifgizi, who was also arrested. Medium employees were interrogated. Six journalists from Abzas Media are now in custody.
The strike against the media was accompanied by an anti-Western campaign in Azerbaijan's state-controlled media. Abzas Media is financed by the USA and acts on behalf of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), it said. The journalists were engaged in espionage. “When will the hunt for them begin?” state broadcaster AzTV asked. At the end of November the conflict reached the international level.
Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry summoned the ambassadors of the USA, France and Germany. In the talks, Baku protested against the (alleged) illegal financing of Abzas Media by organizations from the three countries, according to a press statement from the Foreign Ministry. The German embassy in Baku rejected the allegations and particularly pointed to the situation of Mahamad Kekalov. “We are very concerned about the allegations against Mr. Kekalov and expect a fair trial for him,” it said in a statement.
The widest reach independent channel
The authoritarian regime didn't just target Abzas Media. Aziz Orujow, founder and managing director of the independent internet broadcaster Kanal 13, has also been in custody since the end of November. He is accused of building a house without permission. He faces up to three years in prison. Oruyov's station is considered Azerbaijan's most widely-reaching independent channel on YouTube and has more than 1.6 million followers. Two other media employees were also arrested.
In addition, business journalist Hafis Babaly from Azerbaijan's oldest independent news agency Turan was placed in pre-trial detention for three months in mid-December. In addition, since December, the authorities have used the accusation of “blackmail” to arrest the heads of the channel Kanal 11, the news websites Azerinfo and Ddunyaninsesi, and the newspaper “Gundelik Baki”. If convicted, you could face up to five years in prison.
In addition, there were two attacks on journalists in neighboring Georgia in December, which were allegedly carried out by the regime in Baku. As the American foreign broadcaster Voice of America reports, unknown people broke into the apartment of the American freelancer Alexander Thatcher and stole his passport. Thatcher had in the past reported critically on Azerbaijan's war over Nagorno-Karabakh. The editor-in-chief of the Internet platform Avazor TV Eladdin Shamilzade, who emigrated from Azerbaijan, was threatened with a knife by three unknown men in a bar and harassed with questions about Azerbaijan.
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