By Tass
MOSCOW, July 1. /TASS/. Director of the Journalists’ Rights Department at the BRICS Journalists Association Ivan Melnikov has called on UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay to intervene in the situation surrounding the detention of Russian journalists in Azerbaijan’s capital of Baku, according to the activist’s appeal obtained by TASS.
“In light of reports regarding infringement on the rights of journalists from the news agency ‘Rossiya segodnya’, searches and arbitrary arrests of journalists at the office of radio ‘Sputnik’, I hereby address this appeal to you. The journalists were subjected to unjustified and unlawful physical force, their legitimate journalistic activities were obstructed.”
“I ask you to take measures to guarantee the protection of journalists’ rights in these circumstances and uphold freedom of speech by condemning this persecution, and to work with international organizations to restore their violated rights and secure the immediate release of the arrested correspondents,” reads the document.
The appeal notes that Azerbaijani law enforcement officers stormed into the offices of the news agency “Sputnik Azerbaijan” in Baku and carried out a raid with the use of force. Those reporters who tried to document the unfolding events while performing their editorial duties were detained.
“The BRICS Journalists Association expresses its concern regarding the ongoing instances of journalists’ rights’ violations and the obstruction of freedom of expression. In accordance with the Geneva Conventions and international law, journalists and other media professionals must be protected both in their home countries and abroad. While performing their professional duties, the journalist is by law under the protection of all countries party to the Conventions, making their arbitrary detention, use of force against them and obstruction of their journalistic work unacceptable,” the statement emphasizes.
On June 30, Azerbaijan’s Interior Ministry announced that police had raided the office of Russia’s Sputnik Azerbaijan news agency. Later, the ministry confirmed the detentions of several people in the Baku office of the news agency, including Sputnik Azerbaijan head Igor Kartavykh and editor-in-chief Yevgeny Belousov. Sputnik said they had not received any formal ban preventing them from working in Azerbaijan. A dialogue was underway between working groups to settle possible disagreements, it said.