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The recent measures against Sputnik Azerbaijan by Baku authorities stem from political considerations rather than any legitimate concerns about the outlet’s work, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated.
«Neither now nor previously has Azerbaijan raised any substantive complaints about Sputnik Azerbaijan’s journalistic work – neither about its form nor content,» Zakharova emphasized. «These actions clearly follow a different logic, as we made clear to Azerbaijan’s ambassador yesterday.»
The comments come after Azerbaijani authorities on June 30 detained seven staff members from Sputnik Azerbaijan (part of the Rossiya Segodnya media group). The media group has condemned the detentions as groundless, calling the charges «fabricated.»
Dmitry Kiselev, the director general of Sputnik’s parent media group Rossiya Segodnya, characterized the move as «unjust» and warned it appears designed to deliberately damage Russian-Azerbaijani relations.
