Ukrainian court releases Azerbaijani journalist, Huseynov

A Ukrainian court released Azerbaijani opposition journalist, Fikrat Huseynov, from custody after having been detained by border guards at Borispol Airport in Kiev on 14 October. Dmitri Mazurok, Huseynov’s lawyer, spoke about this with Hromadske.

According to his lawyer, Huseynov was released on bail by MP Nikolai Kniazshitsky and Boris Zakharov, director of the Advocacy Center at the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union.

He added that the journalist had already met with the ambassador of Azerbaijan to Ukraine and is in the Embassy at the moment.

At the same time, he also noted that the extradition demand for the journalist has not been rescinded. The prosecutor’s office has a 60 day period for the subsequent resolution of this issue.

Fikrat Huseynov was detained by border guards at Borispol Airport on 14 October. He was found through an international search by Interpol under articles of fraud, document forgery, and illegal migration.

Ganimat Zaidov, the editor-in-chief of the oppositional Azerbaijani TV channel, “Turan TV”, where Huseynov works, told Hromadske that Azerbaijani authorities are persecuting the journalist because of his views and political activism.