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....

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),...

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’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...

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...

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...

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...

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called on Azerbaijan to drop all charges against independent reporters and activists facing up to 16 years in prison. State prosecutors in Baku requested the heavy sentences on 8 June for nine people associated...

An Azerbaijani opposition activist has filed a court petition accusing police of failing to account for a laptop and 17,000 manats (£7,800) in cash allegedly taken during his arrest. Akif Gurbanov, the head of the Institute for Democratic Initiatives (IDI) and...