A jailed Azerbaijani journalist has written an open letter from prison strongly rejecting a prosecutor\u2019s demand for a 13-year sentence, saying that the state has effectively criminalised journalism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Farid Ismayilov, a reporter for the independent online media outlet Toplum TV, was among several media figures and political activists arrested in a sweeping crackdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During a hearing at the Baku Grave Crimes Court on 8 June 2026, the state prosecutor demanded lengthy prison sentences for 10 defendants, totalling 130 years in prison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In his letter, sent from his pre-trial detention facility in the capital Baku, Ismayilov said his investigative reporting had been treated as evidence of a conspiracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“In the pile of papers called a criminal case, it is written that I am an investigative journalist of an organised group, and the investigation authorities have evaluated my investigative materials as evidence,” Ismayilov wrote. “This fact is proof of why I am arrested.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added that his work at Toplum TV focused on public interest stories, including protests in regional villages, corruption in the state budget, and holding politicians to account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ismayilov also pointed to his coverage of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP29) hosted in Baku in late 2024, during which he interviewed government officials about human rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I interviewed presidential assistant Hikmet Hajiyev, and this led to my arrest,” he said. “I extended a microphone to Hajiyev, not a weapon; I did not kill him, I asked him a question.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The journalist compared his proposed 13-year sentence to punishments for violent crimes under Azerbaijani law, noting that inciting terrorism carries a five-year sentence, while hijacking a plane carries up to eight years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also highlighted the case of Alesger Mammadli, a prominent media expert and Toplum TV co-founder, for whom the prosecutor has demanded a 15-year sentence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“If media expert Alesger Mammadli had provided training for terrorist purposes instead of legal training, he would have faced up to 10 years in prison, not 15,” Ismayilov said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I am proud of my activities at Toplum TV,” he added. “I do not see any reason to regret. I am absolutely not afraid of this government’s trial.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Toplum TV case began in March 2024 when police raided the offices of the independent platform and its partner organisation, the Institute of Democratic Initiatives (IDI).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the time, authorities claimed to have found substantial sums of cash in the office and the homes of those arrested, initially charging them with smuggling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The charges were later upgraded to include money laundering, tax evasion, and illegal entrepreneurship, which the defendants and local rights groups say were fabricated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The prosecutor has asked the court to confiscate the defendants’ properties, including cars and homes, to pay a civil claim of 79,440 Azerbaijani manat ($46,700) to the State Tax Service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The defendants deny all charges, maintaining that the prosecution is politically motivated and designed to silence the country\u2019s remaining independent media voices.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A jailed Azerbaijani journalist has written an open letter from prison strongly rejecting a prosecutor\u2019s 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 among several media figures and political activists arrested in a sweeping crackdown. During a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1047],"class_list":["post-31573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-feed","tag-editor"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31573","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=31573"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31573\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31575,"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31573\/revisions\/31575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}