RWB condemns Azerbaijani authorities for persecuting journalists

Elchin Ismailly has joined a list of journalists arrested in Azerbaijan "on trumped-up charges," says the statement of the international organization "Reporters Without Borders" (RWB). A representative of the Azerbaijani Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety (IRFS) has stated that in the country journalists are persecuted even for criticizing local authorities.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on February 22 the Baku Court of Appeal (CoA) dismissed the complaint against the 24-day arrest of Elchin Ismailly, who was charged under the articles of "extortion by threats committed repeatedly" and "abuse of power that caused grave consequences."

At least 12 bloggers and media professionals are kept in Azerbaijani jails, said Johan Beer, the RWB’s Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

On February 17-20, eight employees of the Azerbaijani only oppositional newspaper "Azadlyg" (Freedom) were interrogated by the prosecutor's office within the inquiry into the case of Faig Amirov, the paper’s financial director, who was arrested in August 2016.

The statement also quotes the British PEN-Club about the deterioration of health of the blogger Rashad Ramazanov (Agaaddin) after his 15-day-long custody in the dungeon.

The number of imprisoned journalists began growing since the end of 2016, said Gyunay Ismayilova, an IRFS member.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.