Azerbaijani journalist claims confiscation of book on Karabakh conflict by customs

Employees of the State Customs Committee (SCC) of Azerbaijan have confiscated from Shakhin Rzaev, a journalist and the director of the regional office of the British Institute for War and Peace Coverage, the book entitled "Karabakh Diary. Green and Black" by the Armenian author Tatul Akopyan. This was stated by Rzaev, who treats the actions of customs officials as illegal.

It took place on June 9, when Shakhin Rzaev was on his way back from Georgia from the meeting of Armenian and Azerbaijani journalists organized by the international NGO "Internews".

The meeting included a presentation of the new book by Tatul Akopyan – "Turks and Armenians". "At the same time, other books by the author were on sale. I got interested in a book about the Karabakh conflict, and I bought it. However, at the customs checkpoint on the border of Georgia and Azerbaijan, customs officials said that they decided to confiscate the book, because it was printed in Armenia," Shakhin Rzaev told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Rashid Gadjily, Director of the Media Rights Institute (MRI), has treated the confiscation of the book as "an illegal act and introduction of censorship" in Azerbaijan.