Azerbaijan: reporters detained while covering protest action of defrauded housing shareholders

Today, photographer Etimad Budagov and video operator Rashad Aliev were detained while performing their professional duties during a protest action held by defrauded housing shareholders in front of the administration of President of Azerbaijan. Their photo and video materials were seized.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that today 50 defrauded housing shareholders of the construction companies LLC (Limited Liability Company) "Gen" and LLC "Kyamran" held the protest action in front of the administration of President of Azerbaijan, demanding to provide them with housing or to return their money.

The journalists were detained by the staff members of the Special State Security Service (SSSS), who said that the administration building was "a strategic object, which could not be shot."

Reporters expressed their willingness to remove photographs with the building, but to keep the images of the very protest action. However, the staff members of the SSSS were adamant to persuasions. They seized the photo camera from Etimad Budagov, the photojournalist of the news agency "Turan", and destroyed all the shots, and seized a videotape from Rashad Aliev, the video operator of the on-line TV Channel "ObektivTV". This was told to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by the journalists themselves.

Emin Guseinov, Director of the Institute of Reporters' Freedom and Safety, treated the incident as a gross violation of freedom of the media.

"Three years ago, I myself was detained while highlighting a protest action in front of the administration under the same pretext. We have conducted the journalistic investigation, the legislation contains no rules prohibiting filming the building of the administration of President. And, in general, it is absurd to prohibit filming any building, when shots of the entire Earth made from space were posted on the Internet," Emin Guseinov said.

The press service of the administration of President refused to comment on the incident, referring to the lack of information.