The United States calls on Azerbaijan to release all individuals incarcerated in politically motivated cases, Spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State Matthew Miller told a briefing on Wednesday, March 5.

“We are deeply troubled by the reports that Azerbaijani police raided the office of independent media outlet Toplum TV and by the reported arrests of multiple independent journalists and civil society activists in Azerbaijan,” Miller said.

“We must express our strong objections to continued attempts to intimidate, repress, and punish journalists, civil society voices, and opposition figures. We call on Azerbaijan to end the harassment of those exercising their fundamental freedoms and urge the release of all individuals being unjustly held in politically motivated cases. No one should face incarceration or other retribution for exercising freedom of expression.”

According to Miller, Azerbaijan should stop cracking down on free expression because doing so would be in the interest of their own people.

“So we will continue to make that clear. And I can assure you that when we have private diplomatic conversations with Azerbaijani officials, as the Secretary had occasion to do just last month, we make those same points privately,” Miller added.