Meydan TV team and arrested journalists call on Euronews

Meydan TV team and journalists arrested in connection with the “Meydan TV case” have addressed a statement to the Euronews channel.

The statement says:

After the reactionary “Media Law,” which was contrary to international agreements and standards and also received a negative opinion from the Venice Commission, was adopted in 2022, pressure and persecution against independent media and journalists in Azerbaijan became all-encompassing.

The process that began in 2023 with the arrest of Abzas Media employees and the closure of their offices continued in 2024 with the arrest of Toplum TV and Meydan TV employees, whose offices were also shut down. Some of the few media representatives who were released left the country due to political pressure; those who could not or did not want to leave Azerbaijan were banned from leaving, and some are still under investigation.

After this, Azerbaijani authorities officially banned the operations of foreign media organizations such as Voice of America, BBC, and Radio Liberty in Baku and closed their representative offices. In the face of all these repressive measures, Turan Agency, which is the only independent news agency despite being registered in the Media Registry, announced that it was suspending its activities. Currently, local media outlets such as Abzas Media, Toplum TV, and Argument.az, the only independent print newspaper Azadliq, and foreign media sources such as BBC, Voice of America, Radio Liberty, and Meydan TV are unable to operate within the country.

In short, there is no independent media left in the country, and journalists’ opportunities to work have been severely restricted. State-controlled media resources and television channels are conducting propaganda against imprisoned journalists based on political orders and in line with the government’s narratives. At present, the only Western media outlet operating in Azerbaijan is the Euronews channel and its Baku office, which has a staff of 15 people. Euronews has long claimed to be an independent and impartial media outlet and has declared its commitment to European values and freedom of expression, which is considered the foundation of fundamental freedoms. Therefore, we, the imprisoned journalists, call on Euronews and our colleagues working in its Baku office to broadcast our politically motivated court trials live.