Azerbaijan Raids RFE/RL Baku Bureau
(WASHINGTON – December 26, 2014) The Baku bureau of RFE/RL’s Azerbaijani Service has been sealed shut following a raid this morning by police and investigators from the state prosecutor’s office, which appears to be intended to silence one of the country’s last independent media outlets.
RFE/RL editor-in-chief and co-CEO Nenad Pejic condemned the raid of the Baku office as a “flagrant violation of every international commitment and standard Azerbaijan has pledged to uphold.” Pejic added, “The order comes from the top as retaliation for our reporting and as a thuggish effort to silence RFE/RL. This is not the first time that a regime has sought to silence us, and we will continue our work to support Azeris’ basic right of free access to information and to report the news to audiences that need it.”
Investigators and armed police officers entered the bureau on December 26 and ordered employees into a room while they ransacked the company safe and confiscated documents and official stamps. Staff members were released after several hours, although four employees were subsequently summoned to the prosecutor’s office for questioning.
A court order stated the search was part of an ongoing investigation of the Azerbaijani Service in connection with Azeri laws on foreign funding of NGOs.
Kenan Aliyev, director of the Azerbaijani Service, characterized the raid “as part of an ongoing campaign against independent media and NGOs in Azerbaijan, including the arrest of Khadija Ismayilova, the host of our show and our contributor.”
In an interview with the Russian language “Current Time” television program on December 18, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Tom Malinowski told RFE/RL that U.S. officials have had “very serious discussions” with Azeri counterparts about recent detentions and arrests, and said that Azerbaijan’s relationship with the United States is “jeopardized by the crackdown on civil society.”
About RFE/RL’s Azerbaijani Service
In an environment of total government control over national media, RFE/RL’s Azerbaijani Service, Radio Azadliq has built a solid reputation as one of the only independent outlets in Azerbaijan. On the air since 1953, Radio Azadliq content is available in Azerbaijan via satellite, the Internet and social media including YouTube andFacebook.
About RFE/RL
RFE/RL is a private, independent international news organization whose programs — radio, Internet, television, and mobile — reach influential audiences in 21 countries, including Russia, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the republics of Central Asia and the Caucasus. It is funded by the U.S. Congress through the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG).
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Media inquiries in the U.S. can be made to Salma Bahramy in Washington at bahramys@rferl.org or +1.202.457.6917. In Europe, contact Joanna Levison in Prague at levisonj@rferl.org or +420.221.122.080