Photojournalist jailed as Azerbaijan suppresses independent media
On Thursday, Azerbaijani authorities arrested a photojournalist and ordered nearly two months of pre-trial detention in connection with the Meydan TV case.
Meydan TV editor-in-chief Orkhan Mammad first reported on social media that the investigation into the outlet had concluded. He then announced the arrest of Ahmad Mukhtar in a separate post, saying the photojournalist was arrested in relation to the same case.
On behalf of Meydan TV, Mammad denied that Mukhtar was part of its team.
“We declare that Ahmad Mukhtar had no cooperation with us,” he wrote on his Facebook.
Mukhtar is now the 12th person imprisoned in connection with the Meydan TV case, which began with currency smuggling charges and was later expanded to include tax evasion and money laundering. With the investigation concluded Thursday, the case will now be sent to the Baku Grave Crimes Court for review.
Authorities didn’t comment on the arrest of the photojournalist or the outcome of the investigation into Meydan TV.
Mukhtar was briefly arrested in December on charges of hooliganism and disobeying police, as authorities launched a crackdown on OCCRP’s Azerbaijani member center. He was later released.
As part of the Meydan TV case, Azerbaijani authorities have also arrested Ulvi Tahirov, deputy head of the Baku Journalism School, though the outlet denies any cooperation with him. Meydan TV’s editor-in-chief said detaining people with no ties to the outlet shows that “authorities are expanding the scope of their slander against journalists.”
“The Azerbaijani authorities have from time to time expanded repressions and attempts to create fear are not effective, the free press continues its work, albeit with difficulty, but the authorities are adding more black spots to their history every day,” he wrote.
Since November 2023, the government has waged a sweeping crackdown on independent media, arresting nearly three dozen journalists and media workers.
Azerbaijan ranked 167th out of 180 countries in the May 2025 World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders, which cited a “new wave of fierce repression targeting the country’s few remaining independent journalists.”
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