Azerbaijan detains two more journalists as watchdogs denounce crackdown

Azerbaijani authorities detained 2 much journalists this week, bringing the fig held successful the past twelvemonth to astir 2 dozen.

Police connected Wednesday arrested Shamshad Agha, of the quality website Argument, and Shahnaz Beylargizi of Toplum TV. A tribunal successful the capital, Baku, connected Thursday ordered the journalists to beryllium held successful pretrial detention for 2 months and 1 day, and 3 months and 15 days respectively, according to their lawyers.

The journalists are charged with smuggling — a complaint utilized successful respective different cases since November 2023, arsenic authorities detained astatine slightest 23 journalists.

Many of those presently detained had worked for the autarkic outlets Abzas Media and Meydan TV.

All the journalists being investigated since November 2023 person denied wrongdoing, and media watchdogs accidental they judge the cases are designed to soundlessness media.

The Committee to Protect Journalists, oregon CPJ, said that Agha’s apprehension “underscores a grim intent by Azerbaijani authorities to soundlessness and further restrict the country’s tiny and embattled autarkic media community.”

“Azerbaijan’s authorities should instantly reverse its unprecedented media crackdown and merchandise Agha on with each different unjustly jailed journalists,” said a connection from CPJ’s Gulnoza Said.

Bashir Suleymanli, who is caput of the Baku-based ineligible assistance radical known arsenic the Institute of Civil Rights, believes that the arrests are an effort by authorities to stifle escaped speech.

“It seems that the process volition proceed until the implicit elimination of autarkic journalism successful the country,” helium told VOA.

Lawmaker Bahruz Maharramov, however, says the arrests are not a property state issue.

“Law enforcement agencies person taken applicable measures based connected facts and irrefutable evidence, the authenticity of which is beyond doubt,” helium told VOA. “Of course, since specified media organizations are formed much arsenic instruments of power of the West, the ineligible and judicial measures taken against them are observed with inadequate reactions from the West.”

Based successful Azerbaijan, quality rights activistic Samir Kazimli says that autarkic media and quality outlets captious of the authorities are undergoing a hard period.

"If this argumentation of repression does not stop, autarkic media successful Azerbaijan whitethorn beryllium wholly destroyed,” helium told VOA.

Kazimli said that the planetary community, including rights groups, politicians and U.S. and European officials “must instrumentality steps utilizing urgent and effectual mechanisms to halt the Azerbaijani authorities' attacks connected civilian nine and autarkic media.”

One of the journalists detained this week had precocious spoken retired astir concerns for the aboriginal of autarkic media successful Azerbaijan.

"The lives of each autarkic journalists are successful danger," Agha told VOA successful January.

The exertion of Argument, a quality website covering democracy, corruption and quality rights, said helium has been banned from leaving the state since July.

The probe enactment Freedom House describes Azerbaijan arsenic an “authoritarian regime” and states that authorities person “carried retired an extended crackdown connected civilian liberties successful caller years.”

Elshan Hasanov of the Political Prisoners Monitoring Center told VOA that the full fig of detainees documented by the Azeri nonprofit is 331.

Azerbaijani authorities cull disapproval connected detainees arsenic biased.

Parliamentarian Maharramov told VOA that media successful the state are escaped and that conditions for providing everyone with information, including diverseness of sentiment and state of enactment successful the media assemblage arsenic a whole, are afloat ensured.

Azerbaijan is among the worst jailers of journalists successful the world, according to information by the CPJ. The state ranks 164 retired of 180 connected the Press Freedom Index, wherever 1 shows the champion situation for media.

This communicative originated successful VOA’s Azeri Service.