Azerbaijan arrests two journalists for high treason

The spokesman said Novruzali Mamedov, the editor-in-chief of the Tolishi Sado newspaper that covers the Iranian community in Azerbaijan, and Elman Guliyev, another editor at the paper, had been detained but gave no further details.

A lawyer for Mamedov said the arrest of his client was unlawful.

Two other Azeri journalists are in custody accused of stirring up religious hatred after they reprinted last year Danish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad. The cartoons were seen by many Muslims as blasphemous.

Azeri President Ilham Aliyev, who succeeded his father as president in 2003, has said ensuring media freedoms is one of his priorities. But rights groups say journalists routinely come under pressure from the authorities. Reuters