Azerbaijani journalist suspected of extortion

Zakhir Amanov, a founder and editor-in-chief of the Azerbaijani news website “Cenub.az”, has been detained on suspicion of extortion.

On the afternoon of April 13, the police detained Zakhir Amanov at the editorial office in the Masalli District of Azerbaijan, the “Caucasian Knot” correspondent was told by one of the local activists, who preferred to remain anonymous.

“He (Zakhir Amanov) allegedly extorted money from some local official,” the activist said.

The press service for the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of Azerbaijan confirmed the detention of Zakhir Amanov on the basis of a complaint filed by Israfil Aliev, the head of the administration of the village of Sygdash in the Masalli District.

A criminal case has been instituted under Article 182.1 of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan (extortion through threats), which provides for a punishment of three to five years of imprisonment, the “Caucasian Knot” correspondent has been told by the press service for the Azerbaijan’s MIA.

Arif Aliev, a co-founder and director of the Baku Press Club, the chair of the journalistic association “Yeni Nasil” (New Generation), has reported that Zakhir Amanov is being held at the Masalli District Police Department.

“We have known Zakhir Amanov for 30 years as the head of one of the leading regional media in Azerbaijan, a professional journalist. Therefore, the accusation that he was allegedly extorting money from the head of the village administration and was caught red-handed looks implausible and fabricated for us. We will follow up the case,” Arif Aliev told the “Caucasian Knot” correspondent.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on April 14, 2022 at 11:56 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.