Third Russian journalist detained in Azerbaijan
Ruptly editor Aytekin Guseynova spent some 20 minutes filming outside Sputnik's office, the agency said. Contact was lost with her just as she reported finishing her work, with her mother confirming her arrest later in the day, it added.
During the raid, local police detained the head of Sputnik's editorial office, Igor Kartavykh, and editor-in-chief Evgeny Belousov. The Azerbaijani Interior Ministry claimed that it targeted the agency after receiving information it has been operating 'through illegal financing.'
In February, Baku had moved to effectively shut down Sputnik's office, giving accreditation to just a single journalist. The outlet, however, told RT that it had never received a formal prohibition, and the foreign ministers of the two countries have been discussing issues related to the agency's work.
According to local media reports, the journalists have been accused of being agents of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB). Sputnik has described the allegations as 'absurd.'
The Russian Foreign Ministry has said it summoned the Azerbaijani ambassador over Baku's actions and the detention of the Russian journalists.
The hostile move against the Russian news agency comes amid a new flare-up in the relations between Moscow and Baku. Tensions arose after a police raid on a suspected organized crime group in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg, composed of Russian nationals of Azerbaijani origin. The raid came as a part of an investigation into several cold murder cases, dating back to the early 2000s and believed to be gang assassinations related to 'business' disputes.
Six suspects from the alleged crime ring, all of whom are Russian nationals, are now being held in pre-trial detention, while two others died during the raid, according to the Russian authorities. Preliminary assessment indicated that the suspects, who were elderly, suffered heart failure during the raid.
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