Blogger not allowed to leave Azerbaijan, questioned

A well-known Azerbaijani blogger has been questioned by police after being prohibited from leaving the country, RFE/RL reported.

Mehman Huseynov of the Azerbaijani Institute Of Reporters' Liberty and Safety was detained at the Baku airport on November 10 while trying to travel to Tbilisi, Georgia, for an Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe conference on media in the South Caucasus.

Azerbaijani Interior Ministry spokesman Ehsan Zahidov said later that Huseynov was released after he was questioned in connection with investigations launched against him in 2012.

In 2012, Huseynov was barred from leaving Azerbaijan for three years after he was accused of resisting police and insulting a police officer.

Huseynov says the investigation has stalled since then and he had officially requested the travel ban be lifted, but the prosecutor-general's office has given no clear indication of his status.