(Reuters) – Police in Azerbaijan on Wednesday detained a journalist, Ulviyya Ali, local media reported, amid an ongoing criminal case against six of her colleagues at the independent Meydan TV outlet.
Azerbaijani media said Ali had been placed in pre-trial detention for one month and 29 days on suspicion of smuggling. She was reported to deny any wrongdoing.
Several other journalists have been charged with smuggling in recent months, an accusation they reject as politically-motivated and say is designed to silence critical voices.
Oil-rich Azerbaijan has rejected Western criticism of the arrests, saying comments by Western diplomats and rights groups calling for the release of activists and journalists amount to interference in its judicial system.
It says the arrests are not politically-motivated.
Media rights group Reporters Without Borders says there are 24 journalists and media workers currently detained in Azerbaijan.
(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Lucy Papachristou; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
