{"id":175423,"date":"2016-04-25T11:10:58","date_gmt":"2016-04-25T11:10:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/article\/critical-tv-station-in-azerbaijans-crosshairs\/"},"modified":"2021-10-29T13:00:45","modified_gmt":"2021-10-29T09:00:45","slug":"critical-tv-station-in-azerbaijans-crosshairs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/article\/critical-tv-station-in-azerbaijans-crosshairs\/","title":{"rendered":"Critical TV Station in Azerbaijan’s Crosshairs"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n \"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\n The Azerbaijani government has taken aim at Meydan TV, one of the few independent Azeri-language news outlets, after the station alleged that Baku under-reported the number of Azerbaijani deaths in this month\u2019s fighting in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone, the station says.\n<\/p>\n

\n The Azerbaijani prosecutor\u2019s office has not released any public information about its investigation, but
\n
\n a lawyer for Meydan, Elchin Sadigov,
\n <\/a>
\n stated that 15 Azerbaijanis have been named in a government investigation into supposed tax evasion and illegal business activity; the usual charges against journalists and those who refuse to toe the government\u2019s line.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe consider this as a declaration of war against independent journalism in Azerbaijan,\u201d Meydan\u2019s founder, activist Emin Milli, commented to EurasiaNet.org.\n<\/p>\n

\n None of the individuals has yet been charged, though
\n
\n the station reports
\n <\/a>
\n that the government banned \u201ca number of journalists\u201d from leaving Azerbaijan as well as searched their residences and took work equipment without a warrant.\n<\/p>\n

\n The government has not responded to these reports. Prosecutors could not be reached for comment.<\/p>\n

Earlier, Meydan TV had come under attack from mainstream, pro-government news outlets and officials alike for its critical coverage of the so-called Four-Day War,
\n
\n the April 2-5 flare-up
\n <\/a>
\n in the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over separatist Nagorno Karabakh. Amidst the fighting, all sides \u2013 Azerbaijan, Armenia and the Karabakhi separatists \u2013 made grand claims of losses inflicted on their respective enemies.\n<\/p>\n

\n Using a combination of citizen journalism and conversations with servicemen\u2019s families, Meydan TV alleged that the government actually had under-reported its own number of casualties (31) by a factor of three.<\/p>\n

The hawkish, pro-government news service
\n
\n Haqqin.az
\n <\/a>
\n accused Meydan of including wounded soldiers in this tally, and relying on numbers somehow provided by Armenia. Milli dismissed the accusations as preposterous. \u201cWe have carefully vetted and cross-checked the reports we received from our reporters, citizens and families of the deceased,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Milli reduces the attacks on his Berlin-based outlet to the \u201cnational-patriotic bacchanalia\u201d unleashed by the authorities in the days before the April 5 ceasefire. He also believes that the entire conflict was meant to divert Azerbaijanis\u2019 attention from the country\u2019s sputtering economy, damaged by low oil prices, and rampant corruption. Unusually
\n
\n bold displays of public anger
\n <\/a>
\n against the hydrocarbon-rich country\u2019s government broke out earlier this year.<\/p>\n

That said, the Azerbaijani authorities harassed Meydan TV\u2019s reporters with arrests and investigations long before the conflict. Milli\u2019s own brother-in-law, Nazim Agabeyov, was arrested last year on charges of possessing illegal narcotics.\n<\/p>\n

\n The British NGO
\n
\n Index on Censorship
\n <\/a>
\n charged that \u201cThis investigation confirms the government has no intention of changing its approach toward independent media and free expression in the country.\u201d*\n<\/p>\n

\n Azerbaijan recently released
\n
\n four journalists from prison
\n <\/a>
\n , but others remain, including investigative reporter Khadija Ismayilova, whose case is now on appeal. **\n<\/p>\n

\n Milli, though, says that the pressure against Meydan will not interrupt its work.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven if the authorities decide to go back to the Stone Age, block Facebook and YouTube, we will find a way to do our journalism,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n

\n *
\n
\n
\n The Index on Censorship has received support from the Open Society Foundation. EurasiaNet.org operates under the auspices of the Open Society Foundation-New York City’s Eurasia Project.
\n <\/i>
\n <\/sup>\n<\/p>\n

\n
\n Originally published by
\n
\n Eurasianet
\n <\/a>
\n .
\n
\n <\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Azerbaijani government has taken aim at Meydan TV, one of the few independent Azeri-language news outlets, after the station alleged that Baku under-reported the number of Azerbaijani deaths in this month\u2019s fighting in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone, the station says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":55251,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-175423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","infinite-scroll-item","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33","no-featured-image-padding"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCritical TV Station in Azerbaijan's Crosshairs - MEYDAN.TV<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/article\/critical-tv-station-in-azerbaijans-crosshairs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Critical TV Station in Azerbaijan's Crosshairs - MEYDAN.TV\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Azerbaijani government has taken aim at Meydan TV, one of the few independent Azeri-language news outlets, after the station alleged that Baku under-reported the number of Azerbaijani deaths in this month\u2019s fighting in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone, the station says.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/article\/critical-tv-station-in-azerbaijans-crosshairs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"MEYDAN.TV\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-04-25T11:10:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-10-29T09:00:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/20868.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"user-manager\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/en\\\/article\\\/critical-tv-station-in-azerbaijans-crosshairs\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/en\\\/article\\\/critical-tv-station-in-azerbaijans-crosshairs\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"user-manager\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/10d11eccf6da3662cf5fdab9806ea91a\"},\"headline\":\"Critical TV Station in Azerbaijan’s Crosshairs\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-04-25T11:10:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-10-29T09:00:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/en\\\/article\\\/critical-tv-station-in-azerbaijans-crosshairs\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":539,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/en\\\/article\\\/critical-tv-station-in-azerbaijans-crosshairs\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/20868.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/en\\\/article\\\/critical-tv-station-in-azerbaijans-crosshairs\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/en\\\/article\\\/critical-tv-station-in-azerbaijans-crosshairs\\\/\",\"name\":\"Critical TV Station in Azerbaijan's Crosshairs - MEYDAN.TV\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/en\\\/article\\\/critical-tv-station-in-azerbaijans-crosshairs\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/en\\\/article\\\/critical-tv-station-in-azerbaijans-crosshairs\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/20868.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-04-25T11:10:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-10-29T09:00:45+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/en\\\/article\\\/critical-tv-station-in-azerbaijans-crosshairs\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/en\\\/article\\\/critical-tv-station-in-azerbaijans-crosshairs\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/en\\\/article\\\/critical-tv-station-in-azerbaijans-crosshairs\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/20868.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/20868.jpg\",\"width\":750,\"height\":600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/en\\\/article\\\/critical-tv-station-in-azerbaijans-crosshairs\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"\u0413\u043b\u0430\u0432\u043d\u0430\u044f\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/en\\\/section\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Critical TV Station in Azerbaijan’s Crosshairs\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"MEYDAN.TV\",\"description\":\"Meydan TV Az\u0259rbaycan\u0131n media m\u0259kan\u0131ndak\u0131 alternativ s\u0259sidir\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/en\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Meydan TV\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/en\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/07\\\/meydan-logo.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/07\\\/meydan-logo.svg\",\"width\":195,\"height\":46,\"caption\":\"Meydan TV\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meydan.tv\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/10d11eccf6da3662cf5fdab9806ea91a\",\"name\":\"user-manager\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Critical TV Station in Azerbaijan's Crosshairs - MEYDAN.TV","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/article\/critical-tv-station-in-azerbaijans-crosshairs\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Critical TV Station in Azerbaijan's Crosshairs - MEYDAN.TV","og_description":"The Azerbaijani government has taken aim at Meydan TV, one of the few independent Azeri-language news outlets, after the station alleged that Baku under-reported the number of Azerbaijani deaths in this month\u2019s fighting in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone, the station says.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/article\/critical-tv-station-in-azerbaijans-crosshairs\/","og_site_name":"MEYDAN.TV","article_published_time":"2016-04-25T11:10:58+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-10-29T09:00:45+00:00","og_image":[{"width":750,"height":600,"url":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/20868.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"user-manager","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/article\/critical-tv-station-in-azerbaijans-crosshairs\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/article\/critical-tv-station-in-azerbaijans-crosshairs\/"},"author":{"name":"user-manager","@id":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/10d11eccf6da3662cf5fdab9806ea91a"},"headline":"Critical TV Station in Azerbaijan’s Crosshairs","datePublished":"2016-04-25T11:10:58+00:00","dateModified":"2021-10-29T09:00:45+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/article\/critical-tv-station-in-azerbaijans-crosshairs\/"},"wordCount":539,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/article\/critical-tv-station-in-azerbaijans-crosshairs\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/20868.jpg","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/article\/critical-tv-station-in-azerbaijans-crosshairs\/","url":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/article\/critical-tv-station-in-azerbaijans-crosshairs\/","name":"Critical TV Station in Azerbaijan's Crosshairs - MEYDAN.TV","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/article\/critical-tv-station-in-azerbaijans-crosshairs\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/article\/critical-tv-station-in-azerbaijans-crosshairs\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/20868.jpg","datePublished":"2016-04-25T11:10:58+00:00","dateModified":"2021-10-29T09:00:45+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/article\/critical-tv-station-in-azerbaijans-crosshairs\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/article\/critical-tv-station-in-azerbaijans-crosshairs\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/article\/critical-tv-station-in-azerbaijans-crosshairs\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/20868.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/20868.jpg","width":750,"height":600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/article\/critical-tv-station-in-azerbaijans-crosshairs\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"\u0413\u043b\u0430\u0432\u043d\u0430\u044f","item":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/section\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Critical TV Station in Azerbaijan’s Crosshairs"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/","name":"MEYDAN.TV","description":"Meydan TV Az\u0259rbaycan\u0131n media m\u0259kan\u0131ndak\u0131 alternativ s\u0259sidir","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/#organization","name":"Meydan TV","url":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/meydan-logo.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/meydan-logo.svg","width":195,"height":46,"caption":"Meydan TV"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/10d11eccf6da3662cf5fdab9806ea91a","name":"user-manager"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=175423"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175423\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":214898,"href":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175423\/revisions\/214898"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=175423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=175423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=175423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}