MOSCOW, July 2. /TASS/. At this time, Azerbaijan has not granted consular access to arrested Russian citizens, including Russian journalists, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing.
She noted that the Russian side requested the opportunity for the staff of the consular department of the Russian Embassy in Azerbaijan to visit the Russian citizens. "Unfortunately, at this moment, no opportunity to visit the Russian citizens, including journalists from Russian media outlets, was granted," the diplomat said.
That said, Zakharova emphasized that the Russian Foreign Ministry is in constant communication with the Russian Embassy in Azerbaijan.
On June 30, Azerbaijan’s Interior Ministry announced a law enforcement operation conducted in the office of the Sputnik Azerbaijan news agency. Later, the ministry reported several people detained at the office, including Sputnik Azerbaijan’s head Igor Kartavykh and the agency’s editor-in-chief Yevgeny Belousov.
Sputnik said that they had received no official bans on working in Azerbaijan and dialogue was underway at the level of working groups to settle any potential differences. On Tuesday, Azerbaijani ambassador to Moscow Rahman Mustafayev was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry where he was served with a verbal note, demanding the immediate release of the Russian journalists detained in Baku.
Earlier, Azerbaijan’s APA news agency reported that the Sabail District Court in Baku has ordered eight Russian citizens to be held in custody for four months. According to the agency, the individuals face charges of drug trafficking from Iran as well as cyber fraud. It was noted that they were tried separately. They were detained by Azerbaijani law enforcement agents on Tuesday.