Azerbaijan sentences 7 journalists to prison in latest media crackdown
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 journalist with RFE/RL's Azerbaijani service and an economist, was sentenced to nine years in prison, RFE/RL reported. Nine-year sentences were also handed to Abzas Media's director Ulvi Hasanli, chief editor Sevinj Abbasova (Vagifqizi) and investigative journalist Hafiz Babali. 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) in a statement Friday 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 in a statement Friday 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 foreign currency into Azerbaijan.
Mehralizada was arrested in May 2024 as part of the same case, even though both him 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 crime...Independent 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.
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