Azadliq Archives - Committee to Protect Journalists

Azerbaijani journalists detained, beaten for covering protest

February 15, 2022 4:33 PM EST

Stockholm, February 15, 2022 – Azerbaijani authorities should investigate allegations of police brutality against three journalists detained while covering a protest and allow all members of the press to work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. This morning, police in the capital Baku detained Fatima Mövlamli, a reporter for independent news site Azadliq,…

A cell phone takes photos of an August 2016 meeting in Baku between the presidents of Russia, Iran, and Azerbaijan. President Ilham Aliyev claims internet is 'free of censorship' in Azerbaijan, but authorities have blocked access to critical news websites. (Alexander Nemenov/Pool/AP)

Freedom of speech is guaranteed Aliyev says as Azerbaijan blocks news websites

April 9, 2018 3:59 PM EDT

President Ilham Aliyev claims that in Azerbaijan the internet is free and press freedom is guaranteed. But ahead of the April 11 snap elections, authorities have systematically silenced critical voices online through amending laws and blocking news websites, and hackers have attacked independent news outlets.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev (right) stands with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (left), and Russian President Vladimir Putin at an energy summit in Istanbul, October 10, 2016. (Reuters/Murad Sezer)

Newspaper financial director jailed in Azerbaijan

July 24, 2017 3:54 PM EDT

New York, July 24, 2017–An Azerbaijani court’s sentencing of Faiq Amirov, financial director of the independent newspaper Azadliq, is a further serious blow to press freedom in the country, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Azerbaijan government seeks order to permanently block news websites

April 28, 2017 5:49 PM EDT

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…

Azerbaijan continues press crackdown with jail term and arrest extension

January 29, 2015 5:01 PM EST

New York, January 29, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Azerbaijani authorities to end their crackdown on the press after a five-year sentence was handed to reporter Seymur Hazi, according to news reports. The pre-trial detention of investigative reporter Khadija Ismayilova was also extended this week, news reports said.

Azerbaijan jails yet another critical reporter

October 30, 2014 4:45 PM EDT

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.