AbzasMedia

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Mahammad Kekalov, Nargiz Absalamova, and Farid Mehralizade.

AbzasMedia

Azerbaijan presses new charges against three detained in AbzasMedia case

by Aytan Farhadova

•2 min read

Azerbaijani police have pressed new charges against two of AbzasMedia’s staff members and an economist detained during the crackdown on independent media. The chief investigator of the Baku City Police Department on Friday charged AbzasMedia’s deputy director Mahammad Kekalov, journalist Nargiz Absalamova, and unaffiliated economist Farid Mehralizade with illegal entrepreneurship, smuggling assets as part of an organised group, tax evasion, and falsifying documents. If found guilty under the

Economist Farid Mehralizade. Image via social media.

AbzasMedia

Azerbaijani economist ‘kidnapped’ and detained in AbzasMedia case

by Aytan Farhadova

•2 min read

Azerbaijani economist Farid Mehralizade was detained as part of the government’s crackdown on AbzasMedia, despite not having any ties to the independent news outlet. Mehralizade was expected to testify in the AbzasMedia case on Saturday, but was reportedly abducted and detained two days earlier, on 30 May. His wife, Nargiz Mukhtarova, said that her husband disappeared in the early morning of 30 May, and was escorted to their home by the police around noon that day. ‘The police brought him

Imran Aliyev as he was getting arrested. Image via Jamnews.

AbzasMedia

Detained Azerbaijani journalist allegedly beaten by police

by Aytan Farhadova

•1 min read

Journalist Imran Aliyev has allegedly been beaten and tortured by Azerbaijani police after being arrested on charges of smuggling as part of a group. Aliyev, the founder of meclis.info, was arrested on Thursday, and remanded to two months of pre-trial detention the following day. Speaking outside court on Friday, Aliyev stated that he had been beaten and tortured with electric shocks to force him to sign documents and confess to the charges. Aliyev added that he considers the accusation b

Police outside the office of Toplum TV in Baku. Screengrab from video by RFE/RL

AbzasMedia

Podcast | Azerbaijan’s media crackdown continues

by OC Media

•1 min read

In early March, Azerbaijani police raided the offices of Toplum TV and arrested several of their journalists on charges of smuggling. The targeting of the independent outlet was the latest in Azerbaijan’s ongoing crackdown on media in the country. This week, we speak to Toplum TV journalist Alya Aghayeva about Azerbaijan’s crackdown on their outlet, and to Leyla Mustafayeva, who became the interim editor-in-chief of AbzasMedia in exile. AbzasMedia was the first outlet to b

AbzasMedia

AbzasMedia to continue from exile despite imprisonment of management team

by Ismi Aghayev

•2 min read

The embattled Azerbaijani news site AbzasMedia will continue to operate from exile, despite its entire management team and several journalists having been imprisoned by Azerbaijan’s authorities. On Thursday, Abzas named veteran Azerbaijani journalist Leyla Mustafayeva as editor-in-chief. The move is understood to have been approved by the site’s founders. ‘The government has depleted the resources of AbzasMedia by arresting its employees, and the resulting repressive environment makes it im

AbzasMedia

Families of imprisoned AbzasMedia journalists face account freezes and benefits cuts

by Ismi Aghayev

•3 min read

Azerbaijani authorities have been accused of pressuring the families of relatives of the imprisoned members of staff of AbzasMedia by keeping their bank accounts frozen, cutting access to state benefits, and barring them from leaving the country. The director, editor-in-chief, deputy director, and two journalists from AbzasMedia — one of the only remaining independent news sources in the country — were arrested in November on charges of smuggling foreign currency. Hafiz Babali, a journalis

AbzasMedia

Azerbaijan detains seventh journalist in ongoing media crackdown

by Ismi Aghayev

•1 min read

Azerbaijani police have detained an Azerbaijani journalist associated with AbzasMedia amidst an ongoing crackdown on journalists in Azerbaijan. Hafiz Babali, a freelance journalist who has worked with AbzasMedia, was detained on Wednesday. His relatives say that police officers detained him after searching his flat in Sumgayit, northwest of Baku. Babayev is partially blind and has three children. Babali was previously interrogated on 28 November as a witness in the cases against several em