Azerbaijani court sentences local journalist to six years in prison
New York, January 12, 2018–A district court in Azerbaijan today convicted veteran investigative journalist Afgan Mukhtarli on charges of illegally crossing the border, resisting police arrest, and contraband, and sentenced him to six years in prison, media reported.
Exiled journalist abducted in Georgia to face prosecution in Azerbaijan
New York, May 30, 2017–Azerbaijani authorities should immediately release freelance journalist Afgan Mukhtarli and allow him to return to neighboring Georgia, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Mukhtarli, whose wife reported him missing from their home in Tbilisi, Georgia, last night, is being held at a detention center in Baku, Azerbaijan, regional and local…
Azerbaijan government seeks order to permanently block news websites
New York, April 28, 2017–The Azerbaijani government should immediately stop trying to permanently block access to five independent media outlets’ websites and should instead lift a decree that has rendered them currently inaccessible, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. A district court in the capital Baku yesterday began hearing a government lawsuit that seeks…
Azerbaijani blogger sentenced to prison for alleging abuse
New York, March 3, 2017–Azerbaijani authorities should immediately release blogger and press freedom advocate Mehman Huseynov, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. A court in Baku today sentenced Huseynov to two years in prison on defamation charges for alleging that police beat him, according to his lawyer and media reports. CPJ called on prosecutors…
Journalists honored for courageous reporting
International Press Freedom Awards go to Indian freelance reporter, Egyptian photojournalist, Turkish editor, and El Salvadoran investigative reporter New York, November 23, 2016–Journalists from India, Egypt, Turkey, and El Salvador were honored Tuesday night at the Committee to Protect Journalists’ 26th annual International Press Freedom Awards for courageous work amid risks including imprisonment, threats, and…
Christiane Amanpour
Christiane Amanpour was honored with the Burton Benjamin Memorial Award for her extraordinary and sustained achievement in the cause of press freedom on November 22, 2016. The text of Amanpour’s acceptance speech, as prepared for delivery, is below. I never in a million years thought I would be up here on stage appealing for the…
Breaking the Silence
On February 11, 2011, as journalists were documenting the raucous celebration in Cairo’s Tahrir Square following the fall of Hosni Mubarak, the story took a sudden and unexpected turn. CBS 60 Minutes correspondent Lara Logan, who was reporting from the square, was violently separated from her crew and security detail by a mob of men.…
Azerbaijani authorities open criminal investigation into Meydan TV
New York, April 22, 2016–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Azerbaijani authorities to end the harassment of Meydan TV after a criminal investigation was opened into the online independent outlet and a travel ban was imposed on some of its contributors.
Four journalists, human rights lawyer pardoned in Azerbaijan
New York, March 17, 2016 – The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes Azerbaijan’s decision to release four independent reporters and a human rights lawyer, urges authorities to ensure they will not have criminal records, and calls on authorities to free all journalists who remain behind bars.