Reporters Without Borders issued the second statement over a week regarding harassment of journalist Hakimeldostu Mehdiyev by Azerbaijani authorities.

Mehdiyev, the correspondent of the Institute for Reporter Freedom and Safety, in the north of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, has been charged by the district prosecutor’s office with “diverting electricity” under article 189-1 of the criminal code.

“We again call on the authorities to abandon these absurd proceedings, the sole aim of which is to intimidate Mehdiyev,” Reporters Without Borders said.

Mehdiyev, whose power supply is still disconnected, has been harassed by the regional authorities every since early July, when he accompanied a visiting German journalist, Michael Ludwig.