8 journalists given lengthy jail terms as Azerbaijan crushes free press
New York, June 23, 2025— Eight Azerbaijani journalists have received prison sentences ranging from 7 ½ to 15 years, as part of an ongoing series of media trials likely to obliterate independent reporting in the Caucasus nation. In a closed-door trial on Monday, columnist and peace activist Bahruz Samadov was sentenced by a court in…
Georgia media face fewer ‘ways to survive’ amid foreign funding crackdown
New York, May 30, 2025—A punishing spate of laws targeting foreign-funded media will dramatically curb Georgia’s independent voices and force many news outlets to shutter or shift their business operations, say Georgian journalists and press freedom advocates. Georgia’s populist ruling Georgian Dream party has pushed through its new Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA)—called an “exact copy” of the U.S. Foreign…
Georgian police obstruct, detain journalists covering election protests
New York, November 20, 2024—Local rights groups recorded at least four incidents of police assaulting or obstructing journalists covering a November 19 election protest in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi. Georgian opposition parties have alleged fraud and are protesting the results of the October 26 parliamentary election, in which the ruling Georgian Dream party was declared…
Azerbaijani columnist Bahruz Samadov detained on treason charges
New York, September 20, 2024 – The Committee to Protect Journalist calls on Azerbaijani authorities to immediately release researcher and freelance journalist Bahruz Samadov, detained since August 21 on treason charges. “As Azerbaijan’s crackdown widens to envelop ever more journalists, activists, and academics, Bahruz Samadov’s penetrating critiques of Azerbaijani authoritarianism and militarism amid the ongoing…