Appeal of Aysel Umudova Rejected

The appeal filed by journalist Aysel Umudova—one of the detained reporters in the “Meydan TV case”—against the extension of her pretrial detention has been rejected.

On July 7, the Baku Court of Appeal, presided over by Judge Qədim Babayev, reviewed Umudova’s complaint and ruled against her petition.

On June 24, the detention period of several journalists from Meydan TV—Aynur Elgünəş (Qənbərova), Aytac Tapdıq (Əhmədova), Ramin Deko (Cəbrayılzadə), Aysel Umudova, Xəyalə Ağayeva, and Natiq Cavadlı—as well as Şəmşad Ağa (Ağayev), editor-in-chief of “arqument.az” and a journalist collaborating with Meydan TV, and other detainees Fatimə Mövlamlı, Ülviyyə Əli (Quliyeva), Nurlan Libre (Qəhrəmanov), and civil society member Ülvi Tahirov was extended by an additional three months. All of them have filed appeals against the court decision.

On July 2, the appeals of Nurlan Qəhrəmanlı (Libre) and Xəyalə Ağayeva were rejected. On July 3, Natiq Cavadlı’s appeal was dismissed. On July 4, appeals by Aynur Elgünəş (reviewed by Judge Ramin Qaraqurbanlı), Aytac Tapdıq (Judge Anar İbrahimov), Şəmşad Ağa (Judge Qədim Babayev), and Fatimə Mövlamlı (Judge Ramin Qaraqurbanlı) were also denied.

On December 6, 2024, five Meydan TV journalists—Ramin Cəbrayılzadə (Deko), Aynur Qənbərova (Elgünəş), Aytac Əhmədova (Tapdıq), Aysel Umudova, Xəyalə Ağayeva, and Natiq Cavadlı—were detained.

They were charged under Article 206.3.2 of the Criminal Code (smuggling committed by a group with prior collusion), and pretrial detention was imposed by the court.

In addition, civil society activist Ülvi Tahirov was detained the same day, though he is not affiliated with Meydan TV.

On February 5, 2025, Şəmşad Ağayev (Ağa), editor-in-chief of “arqument.az” and a collaborator with Meydan TV, was also detained and placed in pretrial detention.

On February 20, journalist Nurlan Libre (Qəhrəmanlı) was arrested in connection with the Meydan TV case, followed by Fatimə Mövlamlı on February 28, and Ülviyyə Əli (Quliyeva) on May 7—all placed under pretrial detention by court decisions.

The detained journalists deny the charges, claiming they are being punished for their critical reporting.

Currently, around 30 journalists and civil society activists are imprisoned under similar accusations. They reject the charges, linking them to their professional activities. Government representatives, however, deny the existence of politically motivated detentions.

International human rights organizations and Western officials have called on Azerbaijani authorities to release those wrongfully detained.