‘Every day we hear sounds of shelling,' says journalist in Kashmir
The India-Pakistan conflict is escalating as blasts, civilian deaths and tensions rise. Freelance journalist Zafar Aafaq, who's in India-administered Kashmir, says it's 'very hard' to predict how the situation will develop.
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CTV News
12 hours ago
- CTV News
Azerbaijan jails 7 journalists in latest media crackdown on free speech
This photo undated photo released by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty on Friday, June 20, 2025, shows Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist Farid Mehralizada, who was sentenced to nine years in prison, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty via AP) TALLINN, Estonia -- A court in Azerbaijan on Friday convicted a Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist and six others on multiple charges, handing down prison sentences ranging from seven and a half to nine years in prison, RFE/RL and local media reported. The verdict against RFE/RL's Farid Mehralizada and six journalists from Abzas Media, an independent Azerbaijani investigative outlet, marks the latest escalation in the country's crackdown on media. All seven journalists have dismissed the charges as politically motivated and linked to their journalism. International rights groups have called for their release. Mehralizada, an economist who works for RFE/RL's Azerbaijani service, was sentenced to nine years in prison, the broadcaster reported. Nine-year sentences were also handed to Abzas Media's director Ulvi Hasanli, chief editor Sevinj Abbasova (Vagifqizi) and investigative journalist Hafiz Babali. Reporters Nargiz Absalamova and Elnara Gasimova were sentenced to eight years in prison, and deputy director Mahammad Kekelov to seve and a half years, Abzas Media said. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemned the sentences as 'outrageous' and 'the outcome of a purely political trial based on fabricated charges, aimed at silencing voices that expose corruption and injustice.' 'The Azerbaijani authorities may imprison journalists, but they cannot imprison the truth,' RSF editorial director Anne Bocande said Friday. 'RSF calls for the immediate release of all Abzas Media defendants and urges international actors to intensify pressure on Baku.' RFE/RL chief executive Stephen Capus said Mehralizada had been 'unjustifiably detained' and called for his release. 'Farid has already lost a great deal. Unjustifiably detained for more than a year, he missed the birth of his child and now waits for elusive justice. Denying this man his fundamental rights is unnecessarily cruel. Instead of perpetuating this sham, it's time to reunite Farid with his family,' Capus said in a statement. 'A chilling message' Amnesty International said the case against Abzas Media was 'an example of how Azerbaijan's judicial system is being weaponized to muzzle independent journalism'. 'By pressing fabricated economic charges against journalists who exposed high-level corruption, the Azerbaijani authorities are sending a chilling message to anyone in the country who dares to challenge them,' Marie Struthers, Amnesty's regional director, said in a statement, urging 'a strong international reaction.' Six Abzas Media journalists were arrested in November 2023. The authorities claimed that they had found 40,000 euros in cash in the outlet's office in Azerbaijan's capital, Baku, and accused them of conspiring foreign currency into Azerbaijan. Mehralizada was arrested in May 2024 as part of the same case, even though both him and Abzas Media said that he never worked for the outlet. Later that year, authorities levied additional charges against Mehralizada and Azbas Media journalists, including illegal entrepreneurship, tax evasion, document forgery and others. In his closing statement to the court, which RFE/RL shared with The Associated Press, Mehralizada said that 'the truth is that I have not committed any media is one of the greatest means of service to the state, the nation, and humanity. Unfortunately, journalism in our country today is almost equated with terrorism.' Media crackdown Weeks before Mehralizada's arrest, in March 2024, Azerbaijani authorities targeted another news outlet, Toplum TV, with raids and arrests on similar charges. In December 2024, six more journalists were arrested on smuggling charges, including five working for the independent Meydan TV news outlet. Earlier this year, press credentials were withdrawn for Voice of America and Bloomberg and the BBC's office in Azerbaijan was shut down. RFE/RL's bureau in Azerbaijan was shut down in 2014, and its domestic website was blocked in 2017. But the Azerbaijani service has continued to operate despite the restrictions and pressure from the authorities, Alsu Kurmasheva, an RFE/RL journalist involved in the news organization's press freedom advocacy efforts, told AP. Kurmasheva, who was arrested in Russia in October 2023 and released in the unprecedented East-West prisoner swap last August, called the case against Mehralizada 'a very unjust action against a journalist' and 'a political decision,' symptomatic of how press freedom is treated by authorities in countries like Azerbaijan or Russia. 'Authorities there don't believe in journalism as a profession, this is what I learned from my experience,' she said. 'They see journalists as agents of some secret services of different countries.' By Dasha Litvinova
CTV News
14 hours ago
- CTV News
Azerbaijan sentences 7 journalists to prison in latest media crackdown
This photo undated photo released by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty on Friday, June 20, 2025, shows Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist Farid Mehralizada, who was sentenced to nine years in prison, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty via AP) TALLINN, Estonia — A court in Azerbaijan on Friday convicted a Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist and six others on multiple charges, handing down prison sentences ranging from 7 1/2 to nine years in prison, RFE/RL and local media reported. The verdict against RFE/RL's Farid Mehralizada and six journalists from Abzas Media, an independent Azerbaijani investigative outlet, marks the latest escalation in the country's crackdown on media. All seven journalists have dismissed the charges as politically motivated, and international rights groups have called for their release. Mehralizada, a journalist with RFE/RL's Azerbaijani service and an economist, was sentenced to nine years in prison, RFE/RL reported. Nine-year sentences were also handed to Abzas Media's director Ulvi Hasanli, chief editor Sevinj Abbasova (Vagifqizi) and investigative journalist Hafiz Babali. Reporters Nargiz Absalamova and Elnara Gasimova were sentenced to eight years in prison, and deputy director Mahammad Kekelov — to 7 1/2 years, Abzas Media said. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in a statement Friday condemned the sentences as 'outrageous' and 'the outcome of a purely political trial based on fabricated charges, aimed at silencing voices that expose corruption and injustice.' 'The Azerbaijani authorities may imprison journalists, but they cannot imprison the truth,' the group's editorial director Anne Bocandé said. 'RSF calls for the immediate release of all Abzas Media defendants and urges international actors to intensify pressure on Baku.' RFE/RL President and CEO Stephen Capus in a statement Friday said Mehralizada was 'unjustifiably detained' and called for his release. 'Farid has already lost a great deal. Unjustifiably detained for more than a year, he missed the birth of his child, and now waits for elusive justice. Denying this man his fundamental rights is unnecessarily cruel. Instead of perpetuating this sham, it's time to reunite Farid with his family,' the statement read. Six Abzas Media journalists were arrested in November 2023. The authorities claimed that they had found 40,000 euros in cash in the outlet's office in Azerbaijan's capital, Baku, and accused them of conspiring foreign currency into Azerbaijan. Mehralizada was arrested in May 2024 as part of the same case, even though both him and Abzas Media said that he never worked for the outlet. Later that year, authorities levied additional charges against Mehralizada and Azbas Media journalists, including illegal entrepreneurship, tax evasion, document forgery and others. In his closing statement to the court, which RFE/RL shared with The Associated Press, Mehralizada said that 'the truth is that I have not committed any media is one of the greatest means of service to the state, the nation, and humanity. Unfortunately, journalism in our country today is almost equated with terrorism.' Weeks before Mehralizada's arrest, in March 2024, Azerbaijani authorities targeted another news outlet, Toplum TV, with raids and arrests on similar charges. In December 2024, Azerbaijani authorities arrested six more journalists on smuggling charges, including five of those working for the independent Meydan TV news outlet. Earlier this year, authorities withdrew press credentials from Voice of America and Bloomberg and shut down the BBC's office in Azerbaijan. In a January 2025 report, Amnesty International said Azerbaijani authorities 'have systematically silenced independent media through politically motivated arrests' and that those arrests, as well as shutting down independent news outlets, 'demonstrate Azerbaijan's continued crackdown on the right to freedom of expression and media independence, with fabricated charges weaponized to stifle free media.' Dasha Litvinova, The Associated Press
CTV News
17 hours ago
- CTV News
Saudi Arabia executes journalist over terrorism, treason allegations
Workers take down a giant Saudi flag at King Abdullah Square, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil) Dubai, United Arab Emirates -- Human rights groups and press freedom advocates have criticised Saudi Arabia's execution of an imprisoned journalist over the weekend, the latest in a flurry of death sentences enacted in the kingdom. Saudi journalist Turki al-Jasser was executed on Saturday, authorities said. He was arrested in 2018 and tried for terrorism, treason and endangering national security. Jasser was a well-known journalist and blogger who had covered issues including women's rights, the Arab Spring revolts and corruption while working for the now defunct Al-Taqrir paper, according to media rights group the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). 'We are outraged by Saudi Arabia's execution of prominent journalist Turki al-Jasser, who was detained for seven years because the regime believed he reported on allegations of corruption within the Saudi royal family,' said Carlos Martinez de la Serna, the CPJ's chief programmes officer. The London-based NGO ALQST, which monitors rights in Saudi Arabia, panned the execution on Monday, saying the use of capital punishment 'dramatically illustrates the lengths the Saudi authorities will go to, to suppress peaceful dissent'. The group decried 'the lack of transparency around Jasser's case', arguing that it 'reinforces concerns long raised by NGOs that the true number of individuals at risk of execution -- and indeed the true scale of rights abuses in Saudi Arabia overall -- is in fact greater than is publicly known'. Other rights groups and advocates including foreign-based opposition to the Saudi government have condemned Jasser's execution. Saudi Arabia is one of the world's most prolific users of the death penalty and has already executed more than 100 people so far this year, according to an AFP tally. The kingdom drew global notoriety after the 2018 murder and dismemberment of U.S.-based Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a government critic, at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Under its de-facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia is spending big on tourist infrastructure and top sports events such as the 2034 World Cup as it tries to diversify its oil-reliant economy. But activists say the kingdom's continued embrace of capital punishment undermines the image of a more open, tolerant society that is central to Prince Mohammed's Vision 2030 reform agenda. Saudi authorities say the death penalty is necessary to maintain public order and is only used after all avenues for appeal have been exhausted.
