On February 6, 2025, Azerbaijani authorities ordered the arrest of journalist Shakhnaz Beylergyzy (Huseynova) in connection with smuggling charges. The Khatai District Court in Baku granted the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ request to detain her for three months and 15 days in pretrial detention.
Beylergyzy’s lawyer, Bakhtiyar Hajiyev, appealed to the court, highlighting that she has two underage children and suffers from serious health conditions, including diabetes and hypertension. He argued that Beylergyzy posed no flight risk, as she has been under a travel ban for almost a year. However, the prosecutor argued that Beylergyzy could potentially influence other members of an alleged criminal gang, leading to the decision for detention.
The charges against Beylergyzy stem from her involvement in a broader criminal investigation into the independent media organization Toplum TV. She faces accusations under multiple articles of Azerbaijan’s Criminal Code, including large-scale illegal entrepreneurship, tax evasion, and smuggling. These charges could result in a sentence of up to 12 years in prison. Beylergyzy has consistently maintained that her arrest is politically motivated due to her journalistic activities.
Beylergyzy, a host for Toplum TV’s socio-political programs, had previously been questioned several times as a witness in the investigation against the media outlet. On March 2024, police raided Toplum TV’s editorial office, seizing equipment and detaining staff members. Multiple individuals have been arrested, and some remain under police supervision, including Beylergyzy’s fellow journalist, Farid Ismayilov, who was arrested on January 17, 2025.
In a simultaneous move on February 5, 2025, journalist Shamshad Agayev, the editor-in-chief of the Arqument.az website, was also arrested on smuggling charges. Agayev had been involved with Toplum TV and was detained for two months pending investigation. His arrest was linked to the ongoing “Meydan TV case,” another major media investigation in Azerbaijan.
The arrests of Beylergyzy and Agayev are part of a larger crackdown on independent media in Azerbaijan. Since November 2023, at least 24 journalists have been arrested on charges related to smuggling and other offenses connected to their work with independent media outlets such as Toplum TV and Meydan TV. Many of these individuals have been accused of being part of organized criminal groups, despite their denials of the charges.
Shahla Gumbatova, Agayev’s lawyer, argued in court that there were no grounds for his arrest, as he was already banned from leaving the country. Nevertheless, the court decided to hold Agayev in detention. Both Agayev and Beylergyzy continue to deny the charges, asserting that their arrests are retaliation for their journalistic work.
The arrests and ongoing media clampdown have raised concerns about press freedom in Azerbaijan and the targeting of journalists critical of the government.