Director of oldest independent news agency in Azerbaijan detained

Mehman Aliyev, director of the oldest, sole independent news agency in Azerbaijan, Turan, was detained on the evening of 24 August by police employees of the Yasamal district in Baku. He is a suspect in a case of ‘tax evasion’ and ‘misuse of official authority’.

The court must decide within 48 hours whether he will be subject to pre-trial imprisonment or whether he will remain free during the period of the investigation.

On the morning of 25 August, Turan released a statement saying: “In connection with the detainment of the director of our news agency, Mehman Aliyev, and the initiation of a criminal case on charges of tax evasion, the bank accounts of our news agency have been blocked.

“In such a situation, the functioning of the news agency has become very difficult. Considering the situation that has come about, the staff of Turan news agency will be forced to cease operations from 1 September for an undefined period of time. 

“In the meantime, we will try to support the work of our site with our personal resources and enthusiasm. The release of news items will be limited. Whether this will be enough only time will tell. Thank you all who have decided to support Mehman Aliyev and us in this difficult moment.”

Two hours before the detention of Mehman Aliyev, he gave an interview to the Caucasian Knot.

Mehman Aliyev called the criminal investigation against the news agency ‘unfounded and prejudiced’. 

In response to the question, ‘who in your opinion stands behind this audit?’, Aliyev said: “I believe that the Ministry of Taxes is not the main actor here. As I already said, before this case, they didn’t have any complaints against us. The decision from 7 August to initiate a criminal case is simply political. That is, someone gave an order: initiate this criminal case. Moreover, this decision was taken with a purpose, and this is also an indicator of the fact that the case is a political one. The Ministry of Taxes in such a rude way would not be able to do this.”

Mehman Aliyev noted that the Turan news agency has, on several occasions, come into conflict with authorities, and the last time was right before the presidential elections of 2008.

“Now we are in a transitory period, with preparations for the 2018 elections underway. The formation of new institutions such as the vice-presidency and a reformatting of the inner circle shows that such a form of pressure is not accidental.”

The International Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ) called Turan the only independent news agency in Turan and has urged authorities to cease attacks on its workers. Human rights defenders from Human Rights Watch have also called upon the state to not interfere in the work of the agency.

The International journalist organization, Reporters Without Borders (RWB), also condemned the detention of Mehman Aliyev.

“The authorities are increasing pressure on Turan because they cannot force them to cooperate,” said Johann Bihr, Head of the RWB Department for Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

“Mehman Aliyev is one of the pioneers of modern journalism in Azerbaijan. His only ‘crime’ is that he heads the last independent news agency in the country. We demand that he be immediately released and all politically motivated charges against him be dropped,” he added.