Azerbaijani journalist suspected of treason

Polad Aslanov, the editor-in-chief of two Azerbaijani editions, has been detained on suspicion of espionage, the State Security Service (SSS) has announced. The journalist's wife has linked her husband's detention with his professional activities.

The detention of Polad Aslanov, the editor-in-chief of the websites "xeberman.com" and "press-az.com", was reported by the Public Relations Centre of the SSS of Azerbaijan. According to the SSS, Aslanov "held secret meetings with employees of foreign special services outside Azerbaijan."

Besides, the journalist is suspected of having agreed, on the instructions of foreign intelligence agencies, to disseminate articles in the media and social networks aimed against the Azerbaijani authorities. Aslanov faces imprisonment up to the lifelong term.

"The websites headed by Aslanov are unremarkable. Judging by his Facebook profile, he is a believer, but the content of his websites is not particularly religious. There is criticism of the authorities in them, but it's more concerning individual officials. Some materials are of human rights character – information about torture in jails, including of convicted Islamists," said Khalid Agaliev, a lawyer at the Media Law Institute.