BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 20. The executive director of Sputnik Azerbaijan, detained in Baku, has been released and returned to Russia, Trend reports citing informed sources.
Igor Kartavykh, who was under arrest, has been released and returned to Russia. In exchange for him, the Russian side released Mammedali Agayev, former director of the Moscow Academic Satire Theater.
In June, director Igor Kartavykh and editor-in-chief Yevgeny Belousov were detained in a police operation at the office of the Sputnik Azerbaijan news agency.
By order of the Khatai District Court, both were remanded in custody for four months.
They were charged with fraud committed by an organized group, illegal entrepreneurship resulting in large-scale profits, and laundering property acquired through criminal activity.