Azerbaijani authorities detain at least 6 journalists on currency smuggling charges

New York, December 6, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the Azerbaijani authorities’ detention of at least six journalists and media workers in the capital Baku on Friday.

At around noon, independent journalist Ramin Jabrayilzade (also known as Ramin Deko) was detained at the Baku airport upon arrival from neighboring Georgia, where he was covering pro-EU protests. At the same time, law enforcement in different parts of the city detained Natig Javadli, Khayala Aghayeva, Aytaj Tapdig, Aynur Elgunesh, and Aysel Umudova, who work with the Germany-based independent media outlet Meydan TV.

The six were accused of illegal currency smuggling and taken to the Baku Main Police Department, according to a statement from Meydan TV and Shamshad Agha, editor-in-chief of the Baku-based media outlet Argument.az, who is familiar with the case and who spoke to CPJ from Baku. The homes of some of the journalists were searched, and personal equipment and some of their belongings were seized, according to Meydan TV.

“The detention of multiple Meydan TV journalists, occurring just as the United Nations’ COP29 climate conference wrapped up in Baku, is a sign of Azerbaijani authorities’ intention to continue the brutal media crackdown and a slap in the face of both the UN and democratic governments who just went to Baku to shake hands with Azerbaijani officials,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. “Azerbaijani authorities should immediately release Natig Javadli, Khayala Aghayeva, Aytaj Tapdig, Aynur Elgunesh, Aysel Umudova, and Ramin Deko, along with more than a dozen other leading journalists arrested on retaliatory charges in recent months, and end their unprecedented assault on the independent press.”

The Ministry of Internal Affairs said in a statement to the pro-government news agency APA that the detentions were “based on the information received in connection with bringing illegal foreign currency into the country” and that “the investigation was underway.”

Meydan TV refuted “all accusations” in the statement and called the detention and interrogation of the journalists “illegal.”

Over the last year, Azerbaijani authorities have charged at least 15 journalists with major criminal offenses in retaliation for their work, 13 of whom are being held in pretrial detention. Most of those behind bars work for Azerbaijan’s last remaining independent media outlets and face currency smuggling charges related to the alleged receipt of Western donor funds.

Azerbaijan’s relations with the West have deteriorated since 2023, when it seized Nagorno-Karabakh, leading to the flight of most of the region’s more than 100,000 ethnic Armenians. In February 2024, President Ilham Aliyev won a fifth consecutive term, and his party won a parliamentary majority in September elections that observers criticized as restrictive.