Another journalist arrested in Azerbaijan

Aziz Orujev, an editor of ‘Kanal 13’ (Channel 13) Internet-TV, was arrested on 2 May and sentenced to 30 days in prison for disobeying the police.

The aforesaid information was published on the official ‘Kanal 13’ website, which is currently blocked throughout the whole of Azerbaijan.

Aziz Orujev and his wife, Lamiya Orujeva, who is also an employee of the aforesaid TV channel, were arrested by individuals in civvies, early on 2 May. They were escorted to Baku City Nasimi police department.

As the police reported later, Aziz Orujev was mistaken for a wanted individual.

“We were shown a wanted person’s photo. He has absolutely nothing in common with Aziz Orujev. It was just a pretext for arresting Aziz Orujev and accusing him of disobeying the police,” Elchin Sadygov, the journalist’s lawyer, told Turan news agency.

“Aziz Orujev pleaded not guilty. The court ruling will be challenged,” said Sadygov, particularly emphasizing that the journalist was arrested on the eve of the World Press Freedom Day, which is marked on 3 May. He said that this arrest was aimed against the freedom of press.

Lamiya Orujeva was released after a while.

• Established in 2008, ‘Kanal 13’ Internet-TV channel provides platform for NGOs, human right activists, youth activists, politicians and other individuals who have no access to TV air.
• Anar Orujev, a founder of the ‘Kanal 13’ TV channel (Aziz Orujev’s brother) is participating in an educational program in Germany.
• Azerbaijan has been ranked 162^nd in the 2017 World Press Freedom Index, published by ‘Reporters Without Borders’ (Reporters Sans Frontières/RSF), which evaluates the level of media freedom in 180 countries across the world.