Rauf Mirkadyrov, Zerkalo
Medium:Print
Charge:Anti-state
Imprisoned:April 19, 2014

Azerbaijan's national security service, the MNB, detained Mirkadyrov when he arrived in Baku from Ankara, according to regional and international press reports. Mirkadyrov, who worked as the Turkey correspondent for the independent Azerbaijani daily newspaper Zerkalo for three years, had been deported from Turkey the day before at the request of Azerbaijani authorities, the reports said.

Mirkadyrov was arrested and charged with espionage, according to news reports. Mirkadyrov was ordered into pre-trial detention for three months, the independent regional news website Kavkazsky Uzel reported.

In July, authorities extended his detention for four months, until November 21, Kavkazsky Uzel said. When the term was about to expire, the Nasimi District Court ordered Mirkadyrov to be kept in pretrial detention for another five months, regional press reported.

The espionage charges stemmed from Mirkadyrov's trips to Armenia and Georgia, as well as his time in Turkey, during which he was accused of meeting with Armenian security services and handing them information of a political and military nature, including state secrets, the independent news website Contact reported, citing the Azerbaijani prosecutor-general's office.

Mirkadyrov denied all the accusations and said they were politically motivated and in retaliation for his work. If convicted, he faces up to life in prison, Kavkazsky Uzel reported.

While reporting for Zerkalo in Turkey, Mirkadyrov often criticized both Turkish and Azerbaijani authorities for human rights abuses, news reports said.

Kavkazsky Uzel reported, citing Mirkadyrov's wife, that Turkish police detained the family in Ankara on April 18 and accused them of being in the country on expired travel documents. She said their documents were valid through the end of the year. Mirkadyrov was deported the next day.

Mirkadyrov was also involved in nongovernmental projects on improving dialogue between Armenia and Azerbaijan, according to news reports. The two countries have not had diplomatic relations since the early 1990s, due to a dispute over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Mirkadyrov is being held at the MNB detention facility, Kavkazsky Uzel reported.

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