A Baku court has rejected appeals to soften the preventive measure against Russian journalists of Sputnik Azerbaijan Igor Kartavykh and Yevgeny Belousov. The decision of the court of first instance to arrest the defendants remained in force.

The head of the editorial board and the editor-in-chief of Sputnik Azerbaijan, part of the Rossiya Segodnya media group, were arrested in Baku in a criminal case on fraud, illegal entrepreneurship and legalization of property obtained by criminal means.

On June 30, amid worsening relations between Baku and Moscow, Azerbaijani police raided the editorial office of Sputnik Azerbaijan. As a result, seven people were detained, including the editor-in-chief of the Russian state agency Sputnik Azerbaijan Igor Kartavykh and editor-in-chief Yevgeny Belousov. In response, Russia detained a number of Azerbaijani businessmen and stripped ethnic Azerbaijanis of their citizenship without explanation.

The measures against Sputnik employees followed the violent actions of Russian law enforcement in Yekaterinburg on June 27, which resulted in the deaths of ethnic Azerbaijanis, many of whom were tortured. A forensic examination in Azerbaijan established that the cause of death of the two Safarov brothers was post-traumatic shock caused by multiple rib fractures and other serious injuries. The Prosecutor General's Office of Azerbaijan opened a criminal case on the fact of torture and premeditated murder with particular cruelty of two citizens of the country and persons of Azerbaijani origin by Russian law enforcement officers.