Imprisoned Abzas Media editor-in-chief Sevinj Vagifgizi has won the Courage Prize as part of the 2025 Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Press Freedom Awards.
‘The RSF Press Freedom Awards is the moment we honour the women and men who, through their work and tireless commitment to journalism, have faced — and continue to face — bombardments, censorship, imprisonment and other forms of harassment simply because they are journalists: stubborn, relentless, and determined to defend the truth’, RSF General Director Thibaut Bruttin said.
The Courage Prize was awarded to Vagifgizi for ‘her unwavering commitment and determination, even in prison’.
‘Sentenced to nine years in prison on 20 June 2025 on clearly fabricated charges, Abzas Media editor Sevinj Vagifgizi continues to be the indomitable voice of the independent media in Azerbaijan’, the RSF wrote, adding that Vagifgizi has refused to give in to fear.
The RSF cited her journalistic work conducted from prison, as well as the retaliation she and other women journalists have faced for said pieces, including not receiving a fan during the high summer heat and being transferred to another prison nearly three hours from Baku.
Gulnara Mehdiyeva
‘Her commitment, her determination in the face of pressure, and her stubborn refusal to remain silent in the face of injustice embody dignity and hope’, the RSF wrote.
Abzas Media was the first media organisation to be targeted by Azerbaijan’s latest crackdown on media and civil society. Their senior staff were arrested in November 2023, with other members of the team later detained.
In June, the Baku Court of Grave Crimes handed out lengthy sentences of seven and a half to nine years in prison on charges of smuggling foreign currency as a group and money laundering. Those convicted, as well as local and international rights groups, have dismissed the charges against them as politically motivated.
The awards ceremony was held on 15 November at RSF’s 40th anniversary festival in Paris. Palestinian, Burmese, Burkinabé, and French journalists were also awarded.
Ismi Aghayev
