Baku appeal court judge Rasul Safarov issued a ruling on 11 July confirming the Sabail district court’s decision to keep newspaper editor Eynulla Fatullayev in the national security ministry’s detention centre. Fatullayev is serving a 30-month sentence for libel but new terrorism charges were recently brought against him.
Four employees of Gundelik Azerbaijan (one of the two newspapers he edits) - Famil Jafarli, Jeyhun Nagiyev, Aynur Elgunesh and Neymat Huseynli - have meanwhile been questioned as witnesses by the national security ministry. Jafarli said they were asked what pseudonym Fatullayev used as a byline for his own articles. Each was questioned for about half an hour.
So far, more than 20 people working for Gundelik Azerbaijan and Realny Azerbaijan (Fatullayev’s other newspaper) have been interrogated.
Reporters Without Borders condemns this constant harassment of both Fatullayev and his colleagues, which shows that the government is determined to suppress their newspapers.
