Aziz Orujov, director of the online broadcaster Kanal 13, has been detained since November 2023 on charges of illegal construction and conspiracy to bring money into the country unlawfully.
Orujov is one of at least 16 journalists and media workers – 15 of whom CPJ reported on in November and one whose case we confirmed in mid-December – charged with serious crimes between late 2023 and December 1, 2024, in a major crackdown on the independent press and civil society in Azerbaijan.
In 2017, authorities sentenced Orujov to six years in prison on charges of illegal entrepreneurship and abuse of power, which were widely viewed as retaliation for his journalism; he was released on probation in 2018. In 2021, Orujov’s name was on a leaked list of individuals potentially targeted with Pegasus, spyware produced by the Israeli company NSO Group, according to the global investigative network Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.
Police from the Sabail District in the capital, Baku, arrested Orujov at his family home on the evening of November 27, 2023, and searched his home, car, and Kanal 13’s office. Police confiscated documents and USB sticks from Kanal 13’s office and took two laptops, a cell phone, documents, and bank cards from their home, the journalist’s wife, Lamiya Orujova, told CPJ.
Police accused Orujov of illegally building a home on a plot of land that he had purchased in Sabail District, Orujova said. The journalist’s lawyer, Bahruz Bayramov, told CPJ that although the land was not officially registered to Orujov, this was also the case for around half a million homes in and around Baku, and that he was not aware of anyone else being arrested for the offense. Instead, the charges were in retaliation for Orujov’s journalism, according to the lawyer.
Orujov’s detention came amid the arrests of four members of anti-corruption investigative outlet Abzas Media on currency smuggling charges over alleged Western funding.
On December 19, 2023, investigators brought new charges of conspiracy to smuggle currency against Orujov. Three days later, police arrested Kanal 13 reporter Shamo Eminov on the same charges.
Investigators accuse Orujov, Eminov, and other “unknown” individuals of bringing 90,000 manat (US$52,940) in cash from foreign donor organizations into Azerbaijan through “numerous transactions” during 2022 and 2023, according to court documents reviewed by CPJ. The journalists deny the allegations.
Conspiracy to smuggle currency is punishable by up to to eight years in prison under Azerbaijan’s criminal code; illegal construction is punishable by a prison term of up to three years.
Kanal 13 has more than 2 million subscribers on its YouTube channels. It regularly covers human rights violations, gives space to opposition views, and reports extensively on Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Days before authorities brought new charges against Kanal 13, on December 11, 2023, an Azerbaijani court ordered Kanal 13’s YouTube channel blocked on the grounds that the outlet spread “false,” “insulting,” and “discrediting” information about state officials and others.
Kanal 13 is one of three major outlets – including Abzas Media and Toplum TV – from among Azerbaijan’s last remaining independent media targeted over alleged receipt of Western donor money between late 2023 and December 1, 2024.
As of early December 2024, Orujov remains at the Baku Pretrial Detention Center awaiting trial, his brother, Anar Orujov, who is also founder of Kanal 13, told CPJ. Anar Orujov said his brother is suffering from multiple health issues including neurological problems and has spent most of his detention in a penitentiary service hospital. Prison doctors told the journalist that prolonged incarceration was negatively affecting his health, Anar Orujov said.
CPJ emailed the Penitentiary Service of Azerbaijan in late 2024 but did not receive a reply.