Court extends detention of Azeri journalist

(Baku Daily) - A court in Azerbaijan extended for five months the detention of journalist Rauf Mirqadirov, who is accused of high treason.

Mirqadirov's lawyer described the court ruling as illegal, saying that the decision was passed on 20 November, a day after the journalist's term of arrest expired.

"This is a flagrant violation of the procedural code since it is impossible to extend something that does not exist," lawyer Fuad Agayev said.

Mirqadirov, a correspondent with the independent newspaper Zerkalo, was detained in April 2014 and subsequently charged with high treason for his alleged cooperation with Armenian intelligence service.

In April, he was placed in a three-month pre-trial custody, which was extended for another four months in July.