The journalists were remanded in custody for 4 months while the investigation continues.
On 8 December, a trial was held in the Khatai District Court of Baku on a criminal case filed against Meydan TV employees.
As a result, the court remanded the journalists in custody for 4 months while the investigation continues.
On 6 December, Meydan TV employees Ramin Deko (Jabrailzade), Aynur Elgunesh (Ganbarova), Aysel Umudova, Aytaj Tapdig (Ahmadova), Khayala Agayeva, and Natig Javadli were detained on suspicion of “smuggling.”
A crime was filed against the journalists under Article 206.3.2 of the Criminal Code (smuggling committed by a group of persons in prior collusion).
The homes of most of the detained journalists were searched, and their equipment and personal belongings were seized.
The court also sentenced another detainee, civil society member and media worker Ulvi Tahirov, who was not a Meydan TV employee but was detained on the same day as them, to 4 months in pretrial detention.
Meydan TV management issued a statement, noting that the charges made by the police are unfounded and that the detention of the journalists is illegal and is also a repression against independent media.
Since November 2023, dozens of journalists have been arrested in Azerbaijan on charges of “smuggling.”
Local and international human rights organizations consider the charges trumped up and call for the journalists’ immediate release.
