Azerbaijan, Baku / Trend corr. К.Zarbaliyeva / Ehsan Zahidov, the employee of the press-service of the Azerbaijani Interior Minister, has stated that the reporter of the Russian information agency of 'Rosbalt' was deported from Azerbaijan due to the absence of necessary documents.
According to Zahidov, Yana Amelina was arrested and deported by the Lankaran region Department of the National Defence Ministry of Azerbaijan. Khazar Ibrahim, the chief of the Department of press and information policy at the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan, has stated that in compliance with international rules, all journalists must pass accreditation in the Internal Ministry of this country whilst crossing the border.
Shakir Valiyev, the deputy chief of Lankaran City Police Department, has stated to Trend Information Agency that the journalist crossed the Azerbaijani occupied territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, via Armenia, where she met with separatists. From Karabakh, the journalist traveled to Georgia and then to Lankaran. Currently, the National Defense Ministry is examining the reason for the Russian journalist's visit to Nagorno-Karabakh.
Amelina was arrested in Lankaran on 12 August, sent to Baku and deported to Russia by bus. 'Rosbalt' information agency considers the deportation of the Russian journalist to be illegal. Amelina stated that she traveled to Azerbaijan to collect material for the article on political and opposition leaders.