Teymur Karimov, founder and chief editor of independent Azerbaijani broadcaster Kanal 11, has been detained on extortion charges since December 2023. As of December 2024, he remains on trial.
Kanal 11 covers social issues and citizen’s complaints on YouTube, where it has 34,000 subscribers. Karimov also served as in-country manager for exile-based media Time TV and Azad Soz, which have 31,000 and 740,000 YouTube subscribers, respectively.
Police in the capital, Baku, arrested Karimov on December 11, 2023. Karimov alleged that police beat him, threatened to rape him with a baton, and tried to force him to confess to fabricated drugs charges; when he refused, they decided to accuse him of extortion, he said.
According to the indictment, reviewed by CPJ, prosecutors allege that Karimov extorted 1000 manat (US$590) from a construction company manager in exchange for deleting a Kanal 11 video about protesting construction workers and that he demanded a further 10,000 manat (US$5,880) to delete the same video from Time TV. They further allege that he extorted 500 manat (US$295) from a nursery school director after publishing a critical report on her school.
If convicted, Karimov could face up to 10 years in prison under Article 182.2 of Azerbaijan’s criminal code.
Karimov’s trial got underway in Baku Serious Crimes Court on April 5, 2024. Karimov’s lawyer, Nemat Karimli, rights defender Zafar Ahmadov, and journalist Farid Ismayilov, who have closely followed Karimov’s case, told CPJ that the case showed numerous signs of fabrication. Karimli said that the nursery school director withdrew her complaint against Karimov in a court hearing on September 11, stating that Karimov had not demanded money from her and that she had not contacted police with a complaint about Karimov but that police had summoned her on the day of the journalist’s arrest and told her to file a complaint.
Karimov is one of at least 16 journalists and media workers that Azerbaijan has charged with serious crimes between late 2023 and December 1, 2024, according to CPJ research.
As of early December, Karimov remains in detention in Baku Pretrial Detention Center, Karimli told CPJ, adding that the journalist was in good health.
CPJ’s email to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan in December 2024 requesting comment on allegations that police ill-treated Karimov and fabricated the case against him did not receive a reply.