Journalist Chobanoglu permitted to leave Azerbaijan

The ban on leaving Azerbaijan for journalist Shakhveled Chobanoglu, which had been in effect since 2015, has been lifted. The General Prosecutor's Office did not inform the journalist about the possibility for him to leave the country until a month passed after the ban had been lifted, while there was a need for medical treatment abroad during that very month, Shakhveled Chobanoglu claims.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in 2015, journalist Shakhveled Chobanoglu, who cooperated with the Radio Liberty (RL) Azerbaijani Service, was banned from leaving the country. The ban was imposed on the journalist in connection with the investigation against the RL's Baku Office.

Shakhveled Chobanoglu (Namazov) said that in late November, he was diagnosed with COVID-19. "The disease was difficult, with complications. My daughter, who is a medical student studying in Turkey, made an arrangement with doctors of the Gülhane hospital in Ankara that I would obtain medical treatment there. My advocate Zibeida Sadygova sent an urgent telegram to the General Prosecutor's Office and also appealed to the court again to lift the ban on leaving the country at least temporarily," Shakhveled Chobanoglu told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

According to the journalist, there was no reaction from the government bodies. "And only today, we have been informed that the ban had been lifted a month ago. This is arbitrariness. A decision has been made with regard to the citizen, but he has not been notified about it. Meanwhile, we are talking about people's health. And what if I had not recovered here ... It turns out that I could lose my life because of the callousness and carelessness of officials," Shakhveled Chobanoglu stated. The journalist has also added that now his health state has already improved.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on December 23, 2020 at 07:02 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.