The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) in New York condemned the extension of arrest terms for journalists in Azerbaijan. They are unfoundedly accused of currency smuggling in connection with the alleged receipt of funding from Western donors.

The CPJ statement listed the names of 11 people whose arrests were recently extended: Ulvi Hasanli, Sevinj Vagifgyzy, Mohammed Kekalov, Hafiz Babaly, Nargiz Absalamova, Elnara Gasymova, Alasgar Mammadli, Mushfig Jabbar, Aziz Orujov, Shamo Eminov, and Imran Aliyev.

“Azerbaijan must stop using imprisonment and travel bans as tactics to silence and intimidate journalists,” said Carlos Martinez de la Serna, CPJ program director in New York. “Authorities must remove all charges and restrictions on their movements and immediately release those still in custody.”

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, re-elected in February to a fifth consecutive term, rejected the criticism. He stated that Azerbaijan “must protect the media environment from external negative influence,” and media representatives “who illegally receive funding from abroad,” according to him, were arrested within the framework of the law.