BAKU, Azerbaijan — Rights activists say a journalist in Azerbaijan best known for creating a wildly popular Internet video that became a cult favorite in Russia has been arrested on drug possession charges.
The Reporters’ Freedom and Safety Institute said Friday that Qilal Mammadov’s relatives insist he is the victim of a police set-up.
Mammadov created a wedding video showing dueling singers improvising barbs ending with a Russian phrase conveying contemptuous dismissal. The video was intended to illustrate local customs, but the phrase became popular in its own right and was adopted by Russia’s opposition movement in reference to President Vladimir Putin.
Mammadov is a member of Azerbaijan’s Talysh ethnic minority and edits local newspaper Talysh Voice.
Journalists are frequently jailed in the former Soviet nation on charges supporters say are fabricated.
