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IRFS - Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety

04/01 2022

Azerbaijan ranks fifth in non-execution of ECHR decisions

03/29 2022

Politically motivated persecutions in Azerbaijan have not abated – Amnesty International

Is Prime Minister Ali Asadov the Next Target? What is Going on Behind the Scenes with His Business Empire

There has been a lot of talk in the news about Prime Minister Ali Asadov in Azerbaijan. On April 17 some news websites that support the government like Qafqazinfo started saying that Prime Minister Ali Asadov has a business empire. They said he owns a lot of buildings, restaurants and even a hotel in the capital city. They also said that Prime Minister Ali Asadov uses some of his journalists to leak secret information from meetings to hurt his political enemies or to take attention away from what he is doing.

Azerbaijan blocks independent regional news site OC Media

EU chief meets Azerbaijan president amid human rights pleas

Toplum TV trial: Defence says fair verdict ‘highly naive’ as long jail terms sought

Toplum TV: Detained Azerbaijani activist Ramil Babayev spends 29th birthday in prison

IRFS - Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety

Azerbaijan blocks independent regional news site OC Media

Azerbaijani authorities have blocked access to OC Media, an independent regional news website, in the latest restriction of non-state media in the country. Readers across Azerbaijan reported being unable to access the Tbilisi-based English-language platform without a Virtual Private Network (VPN)...

EU chief meets Azerbaijan president amid human rights pleas

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has met Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Baku, amid calls from jailed journalists to address the country's human rights record. The one-on-one meeting took place on 1 July following Mrs von der Leyen's arrival...

Toplum TV trial: Defence says fair verdict ‘highly naive’ as long jail terms sought

A defence lawyer in the trial of independent Azerbaijani journalists and activists linked to Toplum TV has said it would be "highly naive" to expect a fair verdict from the court. Fuad Agayev, representing prominent opposition figure Akif Gurbanov, made the...

Toplum TV: Detained Azerbaijani activist Ramil Babayev spends 29th birthday in prison

Azerbaijani democracy activist Ramil Babayev has spent his 29th birthday in custody, more than two years after his arrest in a controversial crackdown on independent media. Babayev, an employee of the Baku-based Institute for Democratic Initiatives (IDI), was detained on 6...

New media body will tighten state control, watchdog warns

A global press freedom watchdog has warned that a proposed law to establish a media super-regulator in Azerbaijan will tighten state control over the country's remaining independent digital spaces. The bill, which is expected to be debated in parliament on 30...

Azerbaijan moves to ease website blocking amid self-censorship fears

Azerbaijan’s parliament is preparing to vote on amendments that would allow authorities to temporarily block websites without a court order, raising fears of increased self-censorship among independent media. Under the proposed changes to the country's information law, executive bodies will be...

Azerbaijan prison system faces crisis over overcrowding and high reoffending rates

Azerbaijan has been ranked as having the second-highest prison population rate in Europe, amid growing concerns over systemic corruption, torture, and a failure to rehabilitate inmates, according to a Council of Europe report. The Council of Europe (CoE) annual "Space I"...

Jailed Azerbaijani journalist Aytaj Ahmadova denied phone calls, family says

Jailed Azerbaijani journalist Aytaj Ahmadova, detained under the controversial Meydan TV smuggling case, has had her telephone contact with friends cut off by prison authorities, her family has said. Ms Ahmadova's family told the independent media outlet Meydan TV that her...

Azerbaijan Toplum TV trial postponed after heated court exchange

A Baku court has postponed the trial of 10 independent journalists and activists associated with the Toplum TV media outlet after the defence protested that they were denied access to the prosecution's closing arguments. The hearing at the Baku Grave Crimes...

IRFS warns of global surge in state-backed killings of exiles

The Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety (IRFS) has urged the UN Human Rights Council to prosecute foreign hit squads locally, warning of a "deeply concerning" global surge in state-sponsored assassinations of exiled dissidents. The IRFS made the appeal during a...

Rights group condemns Azerbaijan over jailed journalists on protest anniversary

An international rights group has urged Azerbaijan to release jailed journalists who documented landmark environmental protests, marking the third anniversary of the demonstrations. Human Rights Solidarity (HRS) said a police blockade of Soyudlu village in western Azerbaijan remains in place three...

Jailed Azerbaijan critic calls on Aliyev to halt media prosecutions

An imprisoned Azerbaijani activist has appealed directly to President Ilham Aliyev from pre-trial detention, urging the leader to end the prosecutions of independent journalists and civil society workers. Akif Qurbanov, the head of the Institute for Democratic Initiatives (IDI) and a...

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Azerbaijan blocks independent regional news site OC Media

EU chief meets Azerbaijan president amid human rights pleas

Toplum TV trial: Defence says fair verdict ‘highly naive’ as long jail terms sought

Toplum TV: Detained Azerbaijani activist Ramil Babayev spends 29th birthday in prison

New media body will tighten state control, watchdog warns

Azerbaijan moves to ease website blocking amid self-censorship fears

Azerbaijan prison system faces crisis over overcrowding and high reoffending rates

Jailed Azerbaijani journalist Aytaj Ahmadova denied phone calls, family says

Azerbaijan Toplum TV trial postponed after heated court exchange

IRFS warns of global surge in state-backed killings of exiles

Rights group condemns Azerbaijan over jailed journalists on protest anniversary

Jailed Azerbaijan critic calls on Aliyev to halt media prosecutions

Azerbaijan court sentences journalist Nargiz Absalamova to eight years

An Azerbaijani court has sentenced independent journalist Nargiz Absalamova to eight years in prison following a defiant final speech denouncing government corruption. Absalamova, 25, a reporter for the investigative outlet Abzas Media, has been held in pre-trial detention for 19 months....

Azerbaijan’s exiled Meydan TV and AbzasMedia win global press freedom award

The International Press Institute (IPI) and International Media Support (IMS) have awarded their 2026 Free Media Pioneer award to exiled Azerbaijani outlets Meydan TV and AbzasMedia. The joint prize, which also went to the Latin American Center for Investigative Journalism (CLIP),...

Jailed Azerbaijan journalist Nargiz Absalamova denied medical care, Amnesty warns

Human rights group Amnesty International has launched a global campaign urging Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev to provide urgent medical care to jailed journalist Nargiz Absalamova. Absalamova, a reporter for the independent investigative outlet AbzasMedia, is serving an eight-year prison sentence at...

Azerbaijan plans powerful new media regulator to merge existing watchdogs

Azerbaijan’s parliament is debating legislation to merge its media watchdogs into a single state regulator with sweeping powers to monitor digital content and penalise publishers. Under the proposed amendments discussed by the parliamentary Human Rights Committee on Tuesday, the new Media...

Jailed Azerbaijan politician rejects National Salvation narrative

An imprisoned Azerbaijani opposition leader has rejected his country's official National Salvation Day, describing the 1993 political transition as an authoritarian comeback by Soviet-era elites. Akif Qurbanov, the speaker of the Third Republic Platform political movement, made the claims in an...

Salvation, or Authoritarian Revenge? Azerbaijan’s Unfinished Democratic Transformation

By Akif Qurbanov Akif Qurbanov, the spokesperson for the Third Republic Platform who is currently detained under the "Toplum TV case," has written an article concerning National Salvation Day. We present the article, published by the Khar Center, in its original...

Jailed Toplum TV journalist rejects proposed 13-year sentence

A jailed Azerbaijani journalist has written an open letter from prison strongly rejecting a prosecutor’s demand for a 13-year sentence, saying that the state has effectively criminalised journalism. Farid Ismayilov, a reporter for the independent online media outlet Toplum TV, was...

Azerbaijani activist accuses prison deputy of brutal abuse

An imprisoned Azerbaijani activist has accused a Baku detention centre's deputy head of brutal torture, systemic abuse of power, and using "smart cameras" to cover up beatings. Ramil Babayev, a member of the independent Institute for Democratic Initiatives (IDI), smuggled a...

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04/01 2022

Azerbaijan ranks fifth in non-execution of ECHR decisions

Azerbaijan ranks fifth among the member countries of the Council of Europe in terms of non-execution of decisions of the

03/29 2022

Politically motivated persecutions in Azerbaijan have not abated – Amnesty International

Amnesty International published its annual report on the world human rights situation on March 29. The part concerning Azerbaijan indicates

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IRFS - Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety​

IRFS - Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety​

IRFS - Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety​

IRFS - Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety

IRFS - Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety

IRFS - Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety