Jailed investigative reporter Hafiz Babali has condemned the total suppression of independent media in Azerbaijan in an open letter written from behind bars to mark the country's National Press Day. Babali, who is serving a nine-year prison sentence following a police...

A jailed Azerbaijani journalist has been on a dry hunger strike for 18 days after being placed in a punishment cell for writing a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, his family says. Yashar Aghazadeh, a former staff...

An Azerbaijani opposition figure facing trial alongside independent journalists has told a Baku court that government efforts to suppress democratic values in the country will fail. Akif Gurbanov, head of the Institute for Democratic Initiatives and speaker of the III Republic...

Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has called for the immediate release of jailed Azerbaijani journalist Aytaj Ahmadova, warning that her health is deteriorating rapidly without access to medical care. The rights group said Ms Ahmadova, who has been held in...

An opposition leader on trial in Azerbaijan over his links to independent outlet Toplum TV has accused authorities of attempting to destroy media freedom and the rule of law. Speaking in his final address to the Baku Serious Crimes Court on...

A sweeping new law in Azerbaijan regulating social media platforms is a step towards establishing a permanent, institutionalised system of state control over digital expression, a leading media expert has warned. Under the legislation passed by the Milli Majlis (parliament), social...

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has demanded that Azerbaijan provide immediate medical treatment to jailed independent journalist Aytaj Tapdig, warning that her health is deteriorating behind bars. The US-based press freedom watchdog said Tapdig, who is being held under the...

A Tbilisi court has ordered the Georgian television channel Formula to pay a prominent film director 10,000 lari (£2,900; $3,810) after upholding a defamation lawsuit against the broadcaster. The lawsuit, filed by filmmaker Goga Khaindrava, concerned an investigative report aired in...

Three jailed Azerbaijani activists have condemned President Ilham Aliyev's "one-man system" during their final courtroom speeches in Baku, as a controversial media trial nears its conclusion. The defendants, associated with the independent online channel Toplum TV, are among nine people facing...

Defence lawyers in Azerbaijan have called for the acquittal of independent journalists and activists as closing arguments concluded in the high-profile Toplum TV trial on Monday. The trial of 10 defendants associated with the independent outlet Toplum TV and the Institute...