In April 1996, the editor of the Ankara Dept of TRT television was detained and allegedly tortured. He was released in June 1996 after numerous protests. In May 1996, four Radio Liberty and one Hurriyyet journalist were imprisoned by the police during an opposition meeting. One journalist from the local Lenkaran hayati was sentenced to three years imprisonment for slandering officials. During an opposition meeting in November 1996, the police arrested two journalists from the ANS-press News Agency, and hit the correspondent from Turan News Agency.
Financial levers are another important method in curtailing the independent media.
Firstly, from November 1993 onwards, the main publishing house Azerbaycan was put under the direct control of the Presidential Staff. The first decree of the new director was to halt the printing of independent and opposition newspapers. A lthough media outlets are theoretically free in deciding their editorial policy, they depend on several governmental structures for their functioning. This induces certain administrative levers. The Ministry of Press may refuse to register a media outlet, the Ministry of Communications may refuse to grant a frequency, printing houses may refuse to print a paper, local authorities may revise the conditions for the rent of premises .