International journalistic organization calls for the release of colleagues in Azerbaijan

The New York Committee to Protect Journalists called on the Azerbaijani authorities to release the director of Internet television Channel 13, Aziz Orujov. The applicants also demanded that repressions against independent media be cancelled.

“Following the arrest last week of three journalists and employees of the anti-corruption publication Abzas Media, Azerbaijani authorities have targeted another critical online news platform with the arrest of Aziz Orujov,” said Gulnoza Said, the committee’s representative in Europe and program coordinator for Central Asia.

The committee sent a letter to the Main Police Department of Baku and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan with a request to comment on the situation. He received no answer.

The investigation continues to call as witnesses journalists and activists suspected of collaborating with Abzas Media. The investigation is interested in external sources of funding for the publication and investigative journalism.

Let us recall that on November 20, Abzas Media director Ulvi Hasanli and his deputy Muhammad Kekalov were arrested. The next day, the editor-in-chief of the publication, Sevinj Vagifgyzy, was detained. All three were accused of “foreign currency smuggling.” They themselves linked their arrest to professional journalistic activities and corruption investigations in the highest echelons of power.

International organizations condemned the persecution of Abzas Media leaders.