Azerbaijan arrests bank accounts of journalist Ainur Imranova

In Azerbaijan, bank accounts of journalist Ainur Imranova were arrested. The journalist and her advocate treat the decision as unlawful. They have challenged it at the Court of Appeal.

The bank accounts were arrested without prior notification. This was told to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by Ainur Imranova. "On Thursday, May 22, I went to the 'International Bank of Azerbaijan' to withdraw from my account 1683 euros that were transferred to me under small grant by the Danish organization 'International Media Support'. However, my bank has informed me that my account was arrested by the decision of the Nasimi District Court," the journalist has stated. Meanwhile, Ainur Imranova has noted that the very court's decision was not presented to her.

Khalid Bagirov, an advocate of Ainur Imranova, has called the arrest of his client's accounts the unlawful decision. "A citizen is to be notified about consideration of a case concerning his or her interests. However, my client got no phone calls, no written notifications from the Court or from the Prosecutor's Office," the advocate has stated.

Emin Guseinov, Director of the Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS), also treats the arrest of the Ainur Imranova's bank accounts without any prior notification as unreasonable.

"Apart from violation of the journalist's civil rights, this is also a restriction of her professional activity," Emin Guseinov has emphasized.