Azerbaijan Police Raid U-S Funded Radio Station

Azerbaijan police raided the Baku bureau of U.S.-government-funded Radio Free Europe early Friday, shutting down the office and ordering its journalists to stop working, according to the Voice of America.

RFE chief editor Nenad Pejic called the raid "a flagrant violation of every international commitment and standard Azerbaijan has pledged to uphold."

He told VOA that officials from the state prosecutor's office took documents and questioned staff members from Radio Azadliq into Friday evening.

The broadcaster has received no details on why it was targeted. "No allegations," Pejic said. "What we do know is they say they (are investigating) our operations. That's it."

 "We assume (staff) are going to be asked questions about our operations, maybe about salaries, maybe who works, who doesn't work — this kind of stuff," he added. "Frankly, this is, from my point of view, not important at all, because officials are going to say what they want to say."

Pejic said the action was unsurprising for a government that has demonstrated increasing hostility toward the media, with at least 200 journalists arrested annually for the past three years.

Radio Free Equrope staff in Baku

Jeff Shell, chairman of the U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors, which funds RFE/RL, called on the Azeri government to allow the bureau to immediately reopen.

"This unwarranted action is an escalation of the Azeri government's abusive attempt to intimidate independent journalists and repress free media," Shell said.

A U.S. State Department senior official said the U.S. is "deeply disturbed" by reports that employees of the RFE/RL bureau in Baku have been detained in their offices and questioned while the premises were searched by police.

The State Department official called on "responsible authorities" to respect Azerbaijan's "international commitment to protecting media freedom," saying a free and independent press is "critical to the well-being of the nation."

Azerbaijan has been in a "downward spiral" with regard to media. Press watchdog Reporters Without Borders ranked the country 160th out of 180 in its press freedom index this year, four points below its 2013 score.

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