Baku court rejects appeals of Sputnik Azerbaijan journalists over detention

A Baku court has rejected the appeals submitted by the defence team of Igor Kartavikh and Yevgeny Belousov, journalists from Sputnik Azerbaijan, seeking to overturn the pre-trial detention measures imposed earlier this month.

The court upheld the decision of the first-instance court, which ordered their arrest, Caliber.Az reports, citing local media. 

On July 1, the Khatai District Court ruled to place Kartavikh, Director of Sputnik Azerbaijan, and his colleague Yevgeny Belousov under arrest for a period of four months. The two were detained during a police operation conducted at the agency's Baku office the previous day.

On June 30, Azerbaijani law enforcement agencies conducted a special operation at the Baku office of Sputnik Azerbaijan, a local branch of the Russian state-run media outlet. Following the operation, Igor Kartavykh, director of the agency, and Yevgeny Belousov, one of its employees, were detained.

According to Azerbaijani media, both individuals were arrested on charges related to serious financial and economic crimes. The Khatai District Court ruled on July 1 to place them in pre-trial detention for four months. They have been charged under several articles of the Azerbaijani Criminal Code, including:

The two Russian nationals are facing multiple criminal charges, including large-scale fraud (Article 178.3.1 of the Criminal Code), illegal entrepreneurship involving large-scale income (Article 192.2.2), and offences committed by an organised group (Article 192.2.3). They are also accused of laundering property obtained by criminal means on a large scale (Articles 193-1.3.1 and 193-1.3.2).

By Khagan Isayev