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The Independent
7 hours ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Journalists sentenced to prison in Azerbaijan media crackdown
Seven journalists, including one from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, have been convicted on multiple charges and sentenced to prison in Azerbaijan. The verdict against RFE/RL's Farid Mehralizada and six journalists from Abzas Media, an independent Azerbaijani investigative outlet, marks the latest escalation in the country's crackdown on media. All seven journalists have dismissed the charges as politically motivated, and international rights groups have called for their release. Mehralizada, a RFE/RL journalist and economist, was sentenced to nine years in prison on Friday, RFE/RL reported. Abzas Media's director Ulvi Hasanli, chief editor Sevinj Abbasova (Vagifqizi) and investigative journalist, Hafiz Babali were all handed nine-year sentences. Reporters Nargiz Absalamova and Elnara Gasimova were sentenced to eight years in prison, and deputy director Mahammad Kekelov, to 7 1/2 years, Abzas Media said. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has condemned the sentences as 'outrageous' and 'the outcome of a purely political trial based on fabricated charges, aimed at silencing voices that expose corruption and injustice.' 'The Azerbaijani authorities may imprison journalists, but they cannot imprison the truth," the group's editorial director Anne Bocandé said. 'RSF calls for the immediate release of all Abzas Media defendants and urges international actors to intensify pressure on Baku.' RFE/RL President and CEO Stephen Capus said Mehralizada was 'unjustifiably detained' and called for his release. 'Farid has already lost a great deal. Unjustifiably detained for more than a year, he missed the birth of his child, and now waits for elusive justice. Denying this man his fundamental rights is unnecessarily cruel. Instead of perpetuating this sham, it's time to reunite Farid with his family,' the statement read. Six Abzas Media journalists were arrested in November 2023. The authorities claimed that they had found 40,000 euros in cash in the outlet's office in Azerbaijan 's capital, Baku, and accused them of conspiring to bring foreign currency into Azerbaijan. Mehralizada was arrested in May 2024 as part of the same case, even though both he and Abzas Media said that he never worked for the outlet. Later that year, authorities levied additional charges against Mehralizada and Azbas Media journalists, including illegal entrepreneurship, tax evasion, document forgery and others. In his closing statement to the court, which RFE/RL shared with The Associated Press, Mehralizada said that 'the truth is that I have not committed any media is one of the greatest means of service to the state, the nation, and humanity. Unfortunately, journalism in our country today is almost equated with terrorism.' Weeks before Mehralizada's arrest, in March 2024, Azerbaijani authorities targeted another news outlet, Toplum TV, with raids and arrests on similar charges. In December 2024, Azerbaijani authorities arrested six more journalists on smuggling charges, including five of those working for the independent Meydan TV news outlet. Earlier this year, authorities withdrew press credentials from Voice of America and Bloomberg and shut down the BBC 's office in Azerbaijan. In a January 2025 report, Amnesty International said Azerbaijani authorities "have systematically silenced independent media through politically motivated arrests' and that those arrests, as well as shutting down independent news outlets, 'demonstrate Azerbaijan's continued crackdown on the right to freedom of expression and media independence, with fabricated charges weaponized to stifle free media.'
Straits Times
9 hours ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
Azerbaijan hands down long prison terms to seven journalists amid media crackdown
BAKU - 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 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. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
