Party popper
8 Years of Independent News, Thanks for your support!8 Years of Independent News, Thanks for your support!
Join Today

Azerbaijan’s Media Crackdown

36 Posts
0 Followers
Photo for illustrative purposes. Image via Canva
Analysis

Explainer | Meydan TV becomes Azerbaijan’s latest independent media outlet to be repressed

Avatar

Azerbaijan’s crackdown on independent media continues with the arrest of seven of Meydan TV’s journalists and freelancers on charges of smuggling and supporting Armenia.  The campaign against Meydan TV began on 6 December with the arrest of journalist Ramin Jabrayilzada, also known as Deko. According to Jabrayilzada’s lawyer, Nemat Karimov, his client was stopped on his way home from the airport. Police confiscated his funds and claimed he had brought an illicit amount of currency into th

Image courtesy of Meydan TV.
Azerbaijan

Police detain remaining Meydan TV journalists in Azerbaijan

Avatar

On Friday, Meydan TV’s Baku staff — Aynur Gambarova, who goes by the penname Elgunash, Natig Javadli, Aytaj Ahmadova, also known as Tapdig, Aysel Umudova, Khayala Aghayeva, and freelancer Ramin Jabrailzada, also known as Deko — were detained on charges of smuggling foreign currency. They were all remanded to the Baku City Police Station facing a common accusation, smuggling, which has repeatedly been used to detain journalists over the past year.  Meydan TV’s editor, Orkhan Mammad, first

Afgan Sadygov. Photo via Sakartvelos Ambebi.
Afgan Sadigov

Tbilisi Court rules in favour of extraditing jailed Azerbaijani journalist

Avatar

The Tbilisi City Court ruled on Thursday to approve the extradition of Afgan Sadigov, an Azerbaijani journalist who has been in custody in Gldani prison in Tbilisi since 4 August.  Sadigov’s lawyers will still have seven days to appeal the decision, and the case may be brought before the Supreme Court.  Should all final appeals fail, Sadigov will be extradited back to Azerbaijan, where he was arrested several times on charges he refuted and said were politically motivated. His wife has sa

Explainer | One year on in Azerbaijan’s crackdown on independent media
AbzasMedia

Explainer | One year on in Azerbaijan’s crackdown on independent media

Avatar

November 2023 was a black month for journalists working for Azerbaijan’s  independent media outlet and OC Media partner AbzasMedia, marking the beginning of a renewed crackdown against independent media. On 20 November 2023, police raided the offices of AbzasMedia, claiming to have found €40,000 ($44,000) in cash during their search. Earlier that day, both the media site’s director, Ulvi Hasanli, and its deputy director, Mahammad Kekalov, were detained at their homes. Hasanli alleged that he

Afgan Sadygov. Photo via Sakartvelos Ambebi.
Afgan Sadigov

Detained Azerbaijani journalist transferred to Georgia prison hospital following hunger strike

Avatar

Detained Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Sadigov has been transferred to a prison hospital in Georgia on his 17th day of hunger strike. Sadigov has been in extradition custody in Gldani prison in Tbilisi since 4 August.  Sadigova told Netgazeti on Tuesday that she was informed about her husband’s transfer to the hospital late Monday night. ‘I asked [to] talk to my husband, so I could hear his voice’, she said, adding that she was denied permission. ‘They called me late at night, but I don’

Bahruz Samadov. Illustration: Tamar Shvelidze/OC Media
Armenia

When advocating for peace becomes treason — the arrest of Bahruz Samadov

Avatar

Azerbaijan’s arrest of researcher and writer Bahruz Samadov has led to widespread outcry, and speculation about the implications for the prospect of peace or further war with Armenia.  On the evening of 21 August, Azerbaijani social media filled with posts calling for any information on Bahruz Samadov’s whereabouts. Samadov was visiting Azerbaijan while on holiday from his studies, and had gone missing that afternoon, shortly before he was expected to meet a friend.  After two days of silenc

Editor‘s Picks