The Azerbaijani government should immediately stop trying to permanently block access to five independent media outlets' websites and should instead lift a decree that has rendered them currently inaccessible, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CRJ) said on Friday.

A district court in the capital Baku yesterday began hearing a government lawsuit that seeks to compel internet service providers (ISPs) to block access to the sites, adjourning until May 1, according to media reports.

The lawsuit, filed by the Azerbaijani Ministry of Transport, Communications, and High Technology, asks the court to order ISPs to make permanent the censorship of the websites of the independent newspaper Azadliq, the Berlin-based, online news agency Meydan TV, the Azerbaijani service of the U.S.-government-funded broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), and online video channels Azerbaycan Saati and Turan TV, according to media reports.

“If five news websites can threaten Azerbaijan's national security, as the government claims, Azerbaijanis and the rest of the world should be deeply concerned by the country's fragility,” CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Nina Ognianova said. “The Azerbaijani government should immediately stop censoring these important sources of news and analysis, and should instead lift all restrictions on news in Azerbaijan.”