Day: December 9, 2024
The journalists were remanded in custody for 4 months while the investigation continues.
On 8 December, a trial was held in the Khatai District Court of Baku on a criminal case filed against Meydan TV employees.
As a result, the court remanded the journalists in custody for 4 months while the investigation continues.
On 6 December, Meydan TV employees Ramin Deko (Jabrailzade), Aynur Elgunesh (Ganbarova), Aysel Umudova, Aytaj Tapdig (Ahmadova), Khayala Agayeva, and Natig Javadli were detained on suspicion of “smuggling.”
A crime was filed against the journalists under Article 206.3.2 of the Criminal Code (smuggling committed by a group of persons in prior collusion).
The homes of most of the detained journalists were searched, and their equipment and personal belongings were seized.
The court also sentenced another detainee, civil society member and media worker Ulvi Tahirov, who was not a Meydan TV employee but was detained on the same day as them, to 4 months in pretrial detention.
Meydan TV management issued a statement, noting that the charges made by the police are unfounded and that the detention of the journalists is illegal and is also a repression against independent media.
Since November 2023, dozens of journalists have been arrested in Azerbaijan on charges of “smuggling.”
Local and international human rights organizations consider the charges trumped up and call for the journalists’ immediate release.
The post Meydan TV employees remanded for 4 months appeared first on MEYDAN.TV.
Energy crisis in Abkhazia
The previously announced energy collapse in Abkhazia has finally arrived. Previously framed as a schedule of rolling blackouts, the new system has now been officially termed a “power-on schedule.”
This means that electricity will only be available across the republic for a total of 4 hours and 40 minutes during the day. However, uninterrupted power supply is promised from 9 PM to 7 AM.
Abkhazia typically experiences electricity shortages in winter due to reduced output from the Inguri Hydropower Plant, the republic’s sole power source.
In recent years, this “seasonal crisis” has worsened due to uncontrolled cryptocurrency mining, which has increased the republic’s overall electricity consumption by one-third.
Abkhazia used to receive additional electricity from Russia. Some of this was purchased at a discounted rate, while another portion was provided for free as part of socio-economic assistance.
However, after Abkhazia failed to fulfill several commitments to the Kremlin—most notably, passing a law allowing Russians to purchase residential property—this “humanitarian supply” ended.
Russia now sells electricity to Abkhazia at a market rate of 4 rubles [around $0.04] per kilowatt-hour, a cost the republic cannot afford. Currently, the state budget lacks sufficient funds to partially cover the energy deficit.
The only solution is to enforce strict energy-saving measures, which Abkhaz authorities implemented on November 1. Initially, electricity was cut for 4 hours a day, then for 6, and now for almost 10. According to experts, the situation may still worsen.
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- Russia bans Abkhaz mandarins: health crisis or political punishment?
Social media users are boiling with outrage. Alongside a wave of negative emotions, various concrete and often extravagant proposals are being voiced.
One suggestion, for example, is to turn off the internet at night to prevent miners from using precious electricity to mine cryptocurrency. According to some social media users, this could save enough power to at least celebrate New Year “with the lights on.”
The opposition Telegram channel “Apsny Khabar” has put forward its own detailed and specific plan for overcoming the energy crisis by holding those responsible accountable:
- Appointing a new prosecutor general independent of the current government (the term of the current prosecutor general ends on December 12) and immediately launching investigations into crimes in the budgetary, energy, and other critical sectors.
- Replacing the leadership of Abkhaz television to stop it from being a tool for manipulation and concealing the truth.
According to “Apsny Khabar,” ignoring these demands would be a clear indication that the authorities intend to continue covering up crimes and protecting corrupt officials.
“We have no other path but to restore justice through an independent prosecution system and objective investigations.
We cannot start with a ‘clean slate’—instead, we need criminal cases and the confiscation of property from corrupt officials at all levels.
The time for change is now, and it cannot be delayed any longer,” declares “Apsny Khabar.”
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