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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 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 - Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety

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...

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...

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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

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

Jailed Azerbaijan journalist Nargiz Absalamova denied medical care, Amnesty warns

Azerbaijan plans powerful new media regulator to merge existing watchdogs

Jailed Azerbaijan politician rejects National Salvation narrative

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...

CPJ condemns 16-year jail demands for Azerbaijan’s Toplum TV journalists

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...

Toplum TV: Detained Azerbaijan activist accuses police of taking £7,800 cash

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...

Azerbaijan replaces entire judicial panel in Meydan TV trial

An Azerbaijani court has replaced all three judges overseeing the landmark trial of 12 independent journalists and activists linked to the media outlet Meydan TV. The decision to swap the entire panel at the Baku Grave Crimes Court has prompted warnings...

Azerbaijan detains journalist Afgan Sadygov after extortion case reopened

An Azerbaijani court has ordered the pre-trial detention of independent journalist Afgan Sadygov after reopening an extortion case that prosecutors had previously closed in April. The Binagadi District Court in Baku ruled that Mr Sadygov, the editor-in-chief of the online news...

AI data centres risk creating global water and land crisis, UN warns

The rapid expansion of artificial intelligence is consuming planetary resources at an unsustainable rate, a United Nations (UN) study has warned. The report, by the UN University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH), reveals that data centres now use more...

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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