Kiselyov called on Baku to release Sputnik Azerbaijan journalists
The employees of Sputnik Azerbaijan radio detained in Azerbaijan must be released immediately. This was stated on August 30 by Dmitry Kiselyov, CEO of the Rossiya Segodnya media group, in an interview with RIA Novosti.
"We once again call for the early release of our employees and for them to be given the opportunity to return to their homeland," he said.
According to Kiselyov, the journalists have been in custody for two months, and Baku has not had any questions about their professional activities.
The CEO of Rossiya Segodnya stressed that the accusations against colleagues were initially espionage, and then changed to fraud, which, in his opinion, contradicts civilized norms. He noted that the journalists had become the target of a provocation aimed at aggravating relations between Russia and Azerbaijan.
On June 30, Azerbaijani security forces conducted an operation in the office of Sputnik Azerbaijan. At the same time, two Russian journalists were detained in Baku — Igor Kartavykh, the head of the agency's editorial office, and Evgeny Belousov, the editor-in-chief. Later, eight more Russian citizens were detained in the city. On July 2, the Russian Embassy in Baku reported that Russians had received complaints about the use of physical violence, document checks and visits by unknown persons.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on July 2 that Moscow was calling on Baku to take measures to return the countries' relations to the level of strategic alliance.
Later, on July 7, a court in Baku rejected the appeals of Evgeny Belousov, editor-in-chief of Sputnik Azerbaijan, and Igor Kartavykh, head of the editorial board, to change the preventive measure. The decision of the court of first instance on the election of a preventive measure in the form of arrest remained in force.
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