Yakub Belkhoroev, 69, a former United Russia MP and former head of the Ingush Social Insurance Fund, was sentenced by Moscow's Presnensky Court to 10 years in prison. He was found guilty of embezzling nearly 14 million rubles.
A court in Baku arrested Shamo Emin, a former employee of Kanal-13 Internet television, for three months. He is accused of smuggling. Earlier, the head of the channel, Aziz Orujov, was taken into custody under the same article; he was also charged with “illegal housing construction.”
Recently, there have been repressions against independent journalists and activists in Azerbaijan. Director of the online publication Abzas Media Ulvi Hasanli, editor-in-chief Sevinj Vagifgyzy, journalist of the publication Nargiz Absalamova, as well as activist Mohammed Kekalov, who collaborated with Abzas Media, were arrested. They were accused of smuggling foreign currency. Numerous international human rights and journalistic organizations have demanded their release.
Abzas Media was involved in anti-corruption investigations, including against high-ranking Azerbaijani officials.