Azerbaijan
2014
China is world’s worst jailer of the press; global tally second worst on record
More than 200 journalists are imprisoned for their work for the third consecutive year, reflecting a global surge in authoritarianism. China is the world’s worst jailer of journalists in 2014. A CPJ special report by Shazdeh Omari
Investigative reporter Khadija Ismayilova jailed in Azerbaijan
New York, December 5, 2014–An Azerbaijani court in Baku today ordered the imprisonment of award-winning investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova for two months pending trial after a local man accused her of urging him to commit suicide, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the ruling and calls on authorities in Azerbaijan to…
Azerbaijan pressures press freedom advocate’s family, raids apartment
New York, November 6, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the harassment by Azerbaijani officials of the family of Gulnara Akhundova, a regional expert with the Denmark-based press freedom group International Media Support (IMS). Akhundova’s 67-year-old mother was interrogated on Wednesday by prosecutors in Baku who raided her apartment the same day, according to local…
Azerbaijan jails yet another critical reporter
New York, October 30, 2014–A court in Azerbaijan today sentenced Khalid Garayev, a reporter for the embattled opposition newspaper Azadliq and the technical director of “Azerbaijani Hour,” Azadliq’s online TV program, to almost a month in prison on charges of hooliganism and disobeying the police, according to news reports.
CPJ joins call for Azerbaijan to end persecution of investigative reporter
A coalition of international press freedom groups, including the Committee to Protect Journalists, today called on Azerbaijani authorities to lift the travel ban and end the politicized prosecution of Khadija Ismayilova, an award-winning investigative reporter. In the past week authorities in Baku detained Ismayilova upon her arrival from Strasbourg where she had traveled to brief…
Reporter on trial in Azerbaijan on criminal libel charges
New York, October 10, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the criminal libel charges filed against Khadija Ismayilova, an award-winning investigative journalist in Azerbaijan, and calls on authorities to drop the charges immediately.
Journalist severely beaten in Nakhchivan republic of Azerbaijan
New York, August 29, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists strongly condemns the savage beating of Ilgar Nasibov, an independent journalist and human rights defender based in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic (NAR)–a mountainous exclave of Azerbaijan where the practice of journalism is severely restricted.
In Azerbaijan, media watchdog raided, equipment confiscated
New York, August 8, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Azerbaijani authorities to stop harassing the Baku-based media freedom group Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety. Detectives with Azerbaijan’s Prosecutor General’s Office raided the IRFS premises today, the local press reported. A journalist who was at the raid told CPJ that the detectives confiscated…
Court in Azerbaijan sentences journalist to eight years in jail
New York, May 15, 2014–The eight-year prison term given today to a journalist in Azerbaijan is a breach of the country’s declared commitments to press freedom, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Parviz Hashimli is the editor of the independent news website Moderator and a reporter for the independent newspaper Bizim Yol.
Press freedom at low as Azerbaijan takes Council of Europe chairmanship
On Wednesday, Azerbaijan will assume chairmanship of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers. The chairmanship process is automatic; the position is rotated every six months among all of the council’s members, in alphabetical order. But Azerbaijan’s chairmanship has proven more problematic than most, as it comes at a time when the country’s fulfillment of…