The Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety (IRFS) with the support of the undersigned media rights organizations urgently call on the international community, human rights defenders, press freedom advocates, and all those committed to justice to join our appeal to the President of Azerbaijan for the immediate release of Avaz Zeynalli — a journalist whose only “crime” is speaking the truth.
Avaz Zeynalli, editor-in-chief of the independent media outlet Xural TV, has been unjustly imprisoned since September 11, 2022, when he was arrested for his professional activities. What followed has been a devastating sequence of human rights violations:
• He was held in complete isolation for five months by the State Security Service (DTX), without access to his family or even a phone call.
• He was later transferred to the Baku Investigative Detention Center, where his health significantly worsened.
• On February 27, 2024, he was sentenced to nine years in prison on politically motivated charges.
• In custody, Avaz required surgery on one of his eyes, his eyesight deteriorated due to lack of medical attention. Following the operation, he was returned to harsh conditions without proper recovery support.
• He has lost over 25 kilograms during his detention — a stark indicator of severe medical neglect.
• In April 2025, he was diagnosed with advanced metastatic colon cancer, with the disease having spread to his liver.
Numerous press freedom organizations, including Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the International Press Institute (IPI), the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), as well as the Council of Europe, addressed the case of Avaz Zeynalli and called for his release. Yet he remains behind bars — and now faces what could become a death sentence by medical neglect.
We emphasize, in the strongest possible terms, that Azerbaijan’s prison system is not equipped to treat such a complex and aggressive form of cancer. His condition requires immediate, specialized oncological care that is simply not available in detention facilities. Every day of delay endangers his life further.
We at IRFS call on all civil society organizations, media freedom defenders, and international institutions to sign the joint letter addressed to President Ilham Aliyev, demanding the immediate and unconditional release of Avaz Zeynalli on humanitarian grounds.
Find the letter below