Russian spokesperson: Sputnik Azerbaijan editor-in-chief leaves Baku

Yevgeny Belousov, editor-in-chief of Sputnik Azerbaijan, has left Baku after being released from custody, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told RIA Novosti.

Belousov was placed under house arrest earlier this week after the Khatai District Court in Baku approved a motion in his case, Caliber.Az reports.

This follows the earlier release of Sputnik Azerbaijan’s executive director, Igor Kartavykh, who left Azerbaijan for Russia after his release.

The Azerbaijani authorities launched an investigation into Sputnik Azerbaijan earlier this year, amid a government decision to limit the number of Russian state media correspondents in the country to match the number of Azerbaijani journalists in Russia.

Although the outlet had been ordered to suspend operations, reports indicated that it continued to function in defiance of the suspension order. This prompted a special police operation on June 30 at Sputnik Azerbaijan’s Baku office, resulting in the detention of its head and editor-in-chief over alleged collaboration with Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB).

By Sabina Mammadli