RUSSIAN JOURNALIST SAID TO BE EXPELLED FROM AZERBAIJAN

Interfax news agency, Moscow
13 Aug 07

Baku, 13 August: A Russian journalist was deported from Azerbaijan
last Sunday [12 August], a source in the republic’s law-enforcement
agencies has told Interfax-Azerbaijan.

He pointed out that the expulsion of the journalist had not been an
official deportation.

The source declined to explain the reason for expelling Yana Amelina,
a staff member of Rosbalt news agency, from Azerbaijan. The source
said that she had spent six days in the country, was detained in the
town of Lankaran [southern Azerbaijan] and taken to Baku’s airport.

"Prior to this, she managed to travel to Armenia and made an illegal
trip to the occupied territories of Azerbaijan," the source said.

The source added that Amelina had been studying "the Talysh problem"
who mainly live in Lankaran District and that "gave ground to suppose
that the journalist is not on a pro-Azerbaijani position".

Meanwhile, Azerbaijani sources quoted Amelina as saying that
Azerbaijani law-enforcers had not explained her the reasons for her
detention and expulsion. She stressed that there had been no complaints
about her documents.