 Members of the European Parliament are urging the Azerbaijani authorities to stop crackdown on the country's free media and release the jailed journalists. The crackdown on independent journalists investigating corruption in Azerbaijan is unacceptable. The European Parliament stands with the remaining pro-democratic forces in Azerbaijan and demands the immediate release of the imprisoned journalists. Viola von Kramann, a member of European Parliament from Germany, wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. Von Kramann shared a photo with eight members of the European Parliament holding boards with slogans in support of jailed Azerbaijani journalist. The MPs have urged the release of Azerbaijani journalists, including Kanal 13 director Aziz Orijav and the channels presenter Rufat Muradli, as well as Sevanj Bajafkizi, Alvi Hazanli and Mohammad Kekilov from Abziz Media. All of them were detained by the authorities in the past weeks untrumped up charges. Both media outlets were covering sensitive issues, including corruption and human rights violations. The MPs have also carried boards with slogans, journalism is not a crime and stand with human rights defenders. The initiative in support of jailed Azerbaijani journalists have been launched by Marquette Gregerova, a member of the European Union from the Czech Republic. Four European Parliament members are expected to join the initiative.