Azerbaijan arrests journalists, bloggers covering environmental protests
Azerbaijan’s authorities have launched a “witch-hunt” against journalists, bloggers and movement leaders covering the environmental protests in the Gadabay District, Alen Ghulyan, an Artsakh Armenian expert on Azerbaijan, said on Friday.
On 20 June, over a hundred residents of the village of Soyudlu in the Gadabay District gathered to protest pollution of the area by a mining company, assembling near an artificial lake reportedly used to dump acid waste from the mine, OC Media reported.
They were also protesting plans to construct a second, similar artificial lake in the village. Protesters claimed that waste from the mines has caused significant damage to human health and the nature of the region.
“Five people are reported to have been detained. Two of them have been arrested for 20 and 30 days because of social media posts,” Ghulyan wrote on Facebook.
He claims only pro-government media outlets are allowed to cover the protests.
“Other reporters are banned from entering the district,” the experts said.