STATEMENT: IRFS condemns the conviction of journalist Rauf Mirgadirov  Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety (IRFS) resolutely condemns the sentencing of journalist Rauf Mirgadirov to a staggering six years in jail.   On December 28, the Baku Court of Grave Crimes convicted Mirgadirov on a charge of high treason following a series of closed hearings that fail to achieve even a semblance of due process.   

  JOINT STATEMENT   August 10, 2015   Azerbaijan: Journalist Rasim Aliyev murdered as human rights crackdown continues in aftermath of European Games     The Sport for Rights coalition resolutely condemns the brutal murder of Azerbaijani journalist Rasim Aliyev, who died on 9 August in a Baku hospital, after he was severely beaten on 8 August by a group of people. Rasim Aliyev had reported receiving continuous

The Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety (IRFS) resolutely condemns the harassment and unlawful detention of civil society organizations (CSO) representatives in the Khachmaz, a Northern city of Azerbaijan and calls on the government to  put an end to a carefully coordinated witch hunt against civil society and immediately take the concrete steps to improve legal and regulatory frameworks to safeguard CSO enabling environments, sustainability

The Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety (IRFS) strongly condemns the Appeals Court decision to uphold the pre-trial detention of Yeni Musavat newspaper columnist Tofig Yagublu and calls for the withdrawal of the trumped-up charged brought against him. Tofig Yagublu, the Yeni Musavat newspaper columnist, was sentenced to two months in pre-trial detention after being charged with ‘public order offence’ and ‘resisting representatives