12 August 2017, 03:02
RWB condemns authorities' pressure on Azerbaijani agency "Turan"
The international organization "Reporters Without Borders" (RWB) has demanded from the Azerbaijani authorities to stop the prosecution of the agency "Turan", against which a criminal case on tax evasion has been instituted.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on August 7, the Department for Preliminary Investigation into Tax Crimes under the Azerbaijani Ministry of Taxes initiated a criminal case against the agency "Turan".
According to the statement of Johan Birra, the chief of the Department for Eastern Europe and Asia "Reporters Without Borders", the international organization condemn the pressure of the Azerbaijani authorities on the country's latest independent media.
The agency "Turan" was founded in Baku in May 1990. This is one of the first independent agencies in the former USSR.
The authors of the appeal have noted that in recent years, the Azerbaijani authorities have done everything to eliminate the media pluralism.
So, the newspaper "Mirror" stopped its publications because of financial problems. In 2014, the Baku bureau of the "Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty" was closed. The last opposition newspaper "Azadliq" ceased production in September 2016.
Besides, all leading independent news websites in Azerbaijan are blocked.
Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.
Author: Faik Medjid Source: CK correspondent
