The incident at the court trial  in the case of journalist Nargiz Absalamova

On March 1, the Baku Court of Appeal considered the complaint of “Abzas Media” journalist Nargiz Absalamova against the extension of her arrest. During the trial, plainclothes officers began to interfere with Absalamova’s communication with her lawyer Rovshana Rahimova.

“Before coming to the judges’ hall, Nargiz and I discussed the arguments of our complaint in a glass cage. At that time, a man in civilian clothes, calling himself an employee of the penitentiary service, told the court secretary that they were taking Nargiz out of the hall and would return her when the judges arrived.  To my objections, he stated:  “this is not the place for your meetings,” the lawyer said.

During the meeting, the journalist asked to be allowed to leave the cage and speak from the podium. The judge granted the request, but the prison service staff said that this was impossible.” “Due to the illegal intervention of the prison service staff, Nargiz was not allowed to speak from the podium, which caused tension,” Rahimova said. She appealed to the Ministry of Justice, calling for measures to be taken in connection with the illegal actions of the prison service staff. As a result, the journalist’s appeal was rejected. The prison service could not be reached for comment.

Since November 20, 2023, six journalists and media workers of “Abzas Media” have been arrested on false charges (smuggling). International media protection organizations have called on the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately release the detained journalists and stop pressure on the media.

Absalamova was arrested on December 1. On February 24, the  arrest period was extended  for another three months.