Sputnik Azerbaijan editor-in-chief placed under house arrest in Baku
A Baku court has placed Sputnik Azerbaijan editor-in-chief Yevgeniy Belousov under house arrest, transferring him from a pre-trial detention center. His colleague, Igor Kartavykh, was released earlier in October and has since returned to Moscow.
Both were initially detained in July on charges of fraud and illegal business.
The Khatai District Court in Baku approved the motion to place Belousov under house arrest, News.Az reports, citing Kommersant.
The move follows the meeting between Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Vladimir Putin in Dushanbe on 9 October and is seen as a goodwill gesture aimed at easing tensions between Baku and Moscow, which had escalated in recent months over the arrests and other bilateral issues.
Belousov and Kartavykh were detained amid rising diplomatic tensions between Baku and Moscow following the killing of two Azerbaijanis in Russia.
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