Azerbaijani Authorities Detain Russian Reporter

(MENAFN) Officials in Azerbaijan have apprehended a media worker affiliated with Ruptly, as confirmed by the Russian video journalism outlet.

The journalist had been capturing footage outside the premises of Russia’s Sputnik Azerbaijan in the capital city, Baku, where law enforcement had conducted a police operation earlier on Monday.

According to the agency, editor Aytekin Guseynova of Ruptly spent nearly 20 minutes documenting scenes near Sputnik’s headquarters.

Communication with her was severed immediately after she indicated that her task had been completed.

Later in the day, her mother verified her apprehension, the agency stated.

During the same operation, regional officers reportedly took into custody both Igor Kartavykh, the head of Sputnik’s editorial division, and Evgeny Belousov, the agency’s chief editor.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan asserted that the operation was initiated following intelligence that the media outlet was functioning “through illegal financing.”

Back in February, Baku had acted to significantly reduce Sputnik’s operations by granting press credentials to only one reporter.

Despite this, the organization informed a news agency that it had not received any formal ban, and foreign ministers from both nations have been engaged in dialogue concerning the outlet’s activities.

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