New York, November 6, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Azerbaijani authorities to immediately release Farid Mehralizada, an economist and journalist with U.S. Congress-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Azerbaijani service, known locally as Radio Azadliq, who has been detained on currency smuggling charges since May. On October 30, RFE/RL issued a statement calling for the release of Mehralizada, whose work for the outlet was published without attribution for his safety.
“As Azerbaijan gears up to host the U.N. climate change conference COP29 with at least 15 journalists facing potentially lengthy prison terms, Farid Mehralizada’s case once again demonstrates how absurdly easy it is for those with critical views to get swept up in the country’s relentless crackdown,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. “Azerbaijan’s government should face international opprobrium if they fail to release Mehralizada and all other unjustly jailed journalists ahead of COP29.”
On May 30, plainclothes law enforcement officers reportedly seized Mehralizada from the streets of the capital, Baku, placing a bag over his head and forcing him into a vehicle. Officers also confiscated his computer, cell phones, and car from his home.
On June 1, a Baku court remanded Mehralizada into pretrial detention as part of a currency smuggling case against anti-corruption investigative outlet Abzas Media, six of whose journalists remain in jail awaiting trial. Both Abzas Media and Mehralizada denied that he worked for the outlet.
Mehralizada covered economic topics for Radio Azadliq, which is blocked in Azerbaijan and has operated from exile since 2014. His wife, Nargiz Mukhtarova, told CPJ that she believes he was detained for his journalism and independent media interviews he gave criticizing government policy.
In August, authorities brought seven new economic crime charges against Mehralizada and the Abzas Media journalists, which could see them jailed for up to 12 years.
They are among 14 Azerbaijani journalists charged over alleged receipt of Western donor funding in the year leading up to Azerbaijan’s hosting of COP29 from November 11-22, amid a decline in relations between Azerbaijan and the West. Two of the journalists have been released on bail pending trial, while columnist Bahruz Samadov remains in pretrial detention on treason charges.