Azerbaijan hands down long prison terms to seven journalists amid media crackdown
BAKU, June 20 (Reuters) - A court in Azerbaijan sentenced seven journalists to jail terms ranging from 7-1/2 to nine years on Friday after finding them guilty of smuggling, in what international press freedom advocates have described as a politically motivated case.
Six of the defendants are affiliated with Abzas Media, an independent outlet focused on corruption and human rights in the South Caucasus country, which ranks 167th of 180 countries in Reporters without Borders' World Press Freedom Index.
Abzas Media's editor-in-chief Sevinj Vagifgizi, director Ulvi Hasanli, translator Mahammad Kekalov, staff journalists Nargiz Absalamova and Elnara Gasimova, and freelance journalist Hafiz Babali all denied the charges. Their lawyers said they would appeal.
The seventh defendant, Farid Mehralizada - who received a nine-year sentence and also maintained his innocence - is a reporter with the Azeri language service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), an outlet funded by the U.S. government.
In a statement, RFE/RL President and CEO Stephen Capus condemned the trial as a "sham" and said Mehralizada should be released home to his family.
President Ilham Aliyev, in power since 2003, has rejected criticism over the arrests of journalists and said Azerbaijan has "a free press and a free internet."
The first arrests in the case were made in November 2023 after authorities said they had found 40,000 euros ($41,000) in cash in Abzas Media's Baku offices.
Several other media workers have been arrested on similar charges of smuggling in recent years in Azerbaijan, an oil-rich country of 10 million people.
The case against the seven journalists drew condemnation from global press freedom groups and the administration of former U.S. President Joe Biden, with his secretary of state, Antony Blinken, calling for their release last year.
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