next Image 1 of 2

prev Image 2 of 2

A radio station funded by the U.S. government says its office in Azerbaijan's capital of Baku has been raided by prosecutors who claim to have a court decision to shut it down.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty on Friday quoted the director of its Azerbaijani service saying that the office has been locked down since early morning by prosecutors and armed police.

Two RFE journalists could not be contacted by The Associated Press.

The Prosecutor General's Office told the AP the search was conducted to investigate a "grave crime" but would not elaborate.

The station's top reporter Khadija Ismayilova was jailed earlier this month pending a trial on charges of driving a man to suicide, which critics dismissed as an attempt to gag an influential journalist.