25 February 2025, 20:47
Journalist Nurlan Gakhramanly arrested in “Meydan” TV case
The court has placed Nurlan Gakhramanly, a journalist detained in the “Meydan” TV case, into custody. He has stated that he was being persecuted because of his professional activities.
On February 20, law enforcers detained Nurlan Gakhramanly, a freelance journalist, known under the pseudonym Nurlan Libre, within the “Meydan” TV case.
On December 6, 2024, the “Meydan” TV employees Ainur Elgyunesh, Aitadj Tapdyg, Khayalya Agaeva, Aisel Umudova, Natig Djavadly, and the journalist Ramin Deko (Gjabrailzade) were detained on suspicion of currency smuggling by prior conspiracy. They linked the criminal case against them with their professional activities. On February 6, Shamshad Aga, the head of the arqument.az website was arrested within the same case.
The “Meydan” TV has posted a video on the Facebook* that Gakhramanly had prepared for case of his arrest. In the video, he noted that he had been engaged in independent journalism for six years and made many reports on human rights violations and election frauds. According to his version, he had been repeatedly persecuted, arrested, threatened by law enforcers, and his mobile phone was broken. "Despite this, I‘ve never departed from the principles of journalism," Mr Gakhramanly has stated.
He has added that he will not regret his activities if he ends up in prison. "There are currently 25 journalists in prison in Azerbaijan, and I’ll probably be the 26th," Nurlan Gakhramanly has concluded.
*On March 21, 2022, the Tverskoi Court of Moscow banned the activities in Russia of the Meta Company, owning the Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, in connection with extremist activities.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 21, 2025 at 10:41 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
Author: Faik Medjid Source: СK correspondent
