Newly arrested opposition journalist released

An opposition journalist arrested recently by security officers in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic was released on Thursday.

Police officers took Hakimeldostu Mehdiyev, the Yeni Musavat newspaper correspondent in Nakhchivan and a resident of the Sharur district, from the prison where he was being kept without providing explanations, seated him in a car and set him free by the road. The journalist returned home by other car, the head of the Institute for Reporter Freedom and Security (IRFS) Emin Huseynov said.

Mehdiyev was arrested and taken to the Sharur district center on Saturday. He was set free the following day, but summoned to the district police department shortly thereafter, and subsequently sentenced to 15 days on charges of resisting the police. He is reported to have been arrested for covering ongoing arbitrariness in the district.

Seven journalists are currently imprisoned in Azerbaijan.*