{"id":31157,"date":"2025-10-08T16:49:15","date_gmt":"2025-10-08T16:49:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/?p=31157"},"modified":"2025-10-12T10:20:55","modified_gmt":"2025-10-12T10:20:55","slug":"irfs-representative-emin-huseynov-speaks-at-osce-warsaw-meeting-on-the-alarming-situation-concerning-media-freedom-in-azerbaijan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/news-feed\/irfs-representative-emin-huseynov-speaks-at-osce-warsaw-meeting-on-the-alarming-situation-concerning-media-freedom-in-azerbaijan\/","title":{"rendered":"IRFS representative, Emin Huseynov speaks at OSCE Warsaw meeting on the alarming situation concerning media freedom in Azerbaijan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Warsaw, Poland<\/strong> \u2014 The annual OSCE Human Dimension Conference (HDIM 2025)<\/strong> is underway in Warsaw, bringing together diplomats, human rights defenders, journalists, and international organizations from all 57 OSCE participating States<\/strong>. The high-level gathering began on October 6<\/strong> and will continue until October 17<\/strong>, focusing on pressing human rights issues across the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At one of the sessions, Emin Huseynov<\/strong>, representing the Institute for Reporters\u2019 Freedom and Safety (IRFS)<\/strong>, delivered a powerful speech warning about the rapidly deteriorating state of media freedom and freedom of expression in Azerbaijan<\/strong>. He described the current environment for independent journalism as having \u201cnever been more hostile.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Huseynov, Azerbaijan\u2019s authorities have \u201cconsolidated full control over the media\u201d<\/em> through restrictive measures such as a mandatory state media registry<\/strong>, licensing requirements<\/strong>, government-issued press cards<\/strong>, and restrictions on foreign ownership<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Citing data from the Council of Europe\u2019s Platform for the Protection of Journalism and the Safety of Journalists<\/strong>, Huseynov revealed that Azerbaijan currently holds the highest number of imprisoned journalists in the region \u2014 40 in total<\/strong>. This figure surpasses Belarus (35)<\/strong>, the Russian Federation (29)<\/strong>, and T\u00fcrkiye (25)<\/strong>. Adjusted for population, he noted, Azerbaijan now has the highest rate of imprisoned journalists in the world<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many journalists, he continued, are detained on fabricated or politically motivated charges<\/strong>, most commonly smuggling<\/strong>, a pretext he said is used to silence those who expose corruption, human rights abuses, or electoral manipulation<\/strong>.
Independent media outlets such as Abzas Media<\/strong>, Meydan TV<\/strong>, and Toplum TV<\/strong> have been singled out for mass arrests and judicial harassment<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Huseynov also called attention to the cases of two journalists in critical health conditions<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hafiz Babaly<\/strong>, an investigative journalist and editor at the Turan News Agency<\/strong>, detained in connection with the Abzas Media<\/em> case, requires urgent medical attention<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alasgar Mammadli<\/strong>, a media expert and founder of Toplum TV<\/strong>, is suffering from serious health issues while in detention<\/strong> and is in need of immediate treatment<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their continued imprisonment, Huseynov warned, poses a \u201cserious risk to their lives and well-being.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond arrests, Huseynov described how journalists and their families are subjected to financial retaliation<\/strong>, including the freezing of bank accounts<\/strong>. More than ten families of targeted journalists<\/strong>, he said, have lost access to their funds, making it difficult to meet even basic needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These combined pressures \u2014 legal persecution, financial punishment, and the threat of imprisonment \u2014 have created what Huseynov called a \u201cclimate of fear\u201d<\/strong>, forcing many journalists to make an impossible choice between their safety and their profession<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Warsaw, Poland \u2014 The annual OSCE Human Dimension Conference (HDIM 2025) is underway in Warsaw, bringing together diplomats, human rights defenders, journalists, and international organizations from all 57 OSCE participating States. The high-level gathering began on October 6 and will continue until October 17, focusing on pressing human rights issues across the region. At one […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":31158,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1047],"class_list":["post-31157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-feed","tag-editor"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31157"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31157\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31162,"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31157\/revisions\/31162"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31158"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}