 Committee to Protect Journalists, Azerbaijani authorities should release Aziz Oradov. Azerbaijani authorities should release Aziz Oradov, director of the popular television channel Canal 13, from detention on charges of illegal construction and cease their illegal harassment of independent media. The Committee to Protect Journalists headquartered in New York said, it is noted that the Sabayil district court in Azerbaijan's capital Baku ordered that Oradov be held in pre-trial detention for three months. Oradov's lawyer, Varuz Behramov, told the Committee to Protect Journalists that Oradov had been building a home for himself on a plot of land that he had purchased. While the land was not officially registered to Oradov, Behramov said that this was also the case for thousands of other homes in Baku and that he was not aware of anyone else being arrested for the offense. Instead, the charges were in retaliation for Oradov's journalism according to the lawyer. The independent online broadcaster, Canal 13, regularly covers sensitive topics such as demonstrations and human rights violations and gives space to opposition views. Alasghar Mamadli, founder of Media Rights Group, which advocates for press freedom in Azerbaijan, told the Committee to Protect Journalists. Hot on the heels of last week's arrest of three journalists and media workers at the anti-corruption outlet, Abzaz Media, Azerbaijani authorities appear to be targeting yet another critical online news platform with the arrest of Aziz Oradov. Said Gulnozah Said, Committee to Protect Journalists, Europe and Central Asia Programme Coordinator in New York. Azerbaijani authorities should release Oradov, drop the charges against him and end their crackdown on the independent press. Oradov's wife, Lamia Oradova, told the Committee to Protect Journalists that her husband was arrested like a terrorist by eight police officers, seven of whom were wearing masks. Police confiscated documents and USB sticks from Canal 13's office and also took two laptops, a cell phone, documents and bank cards from their home, she said. Bayramov told CPJ that there was no legal basis under the illegal construction charges for conducting the searches and ordering Oradov's pretrial detention. The Committee to Protect Journalists emailed the Baku Police Department and the Ministry of Internal Affairs for comment, but did not immediately receive any replies.