16:32, 15 May 2014

Azerbaijan expels two French TV reporters

The French television journalists Emmanuel Laurent and Richard Buck, who were covering the visit of the French President Francois Hollande in Azerbaijan, were detained and then deported, said Benoit Bringer, the spokesman for the France-2 TV.

According to his story, the above reporters were detained on May 14, at their departure from the Baku Airport.

Azerbaijani law enforcers took away their records and equipment, and then deported them from the country.

"It is strange that this (the detention) happened on the day, when Azerbaijan began chairing the Council of Europe. If this is the way to hinder what is happening to the public, then, this demonstrates by itself the situation with human rights and the freedom of the media in the country. This is very bad for the country's image," Benoit Bringer is quoted by the edition "contact.az" with reference to the Azerbaijani service of Radio Liberty.