arrests warrants issued for exiled bloggers and critics

On May 31, 2025, a court in Baku issued arrest warrants against exiled bloggers Tural Sadigli, Ordukhan Temirkhan (Babirov), and a government critic, former rector of Azerbaijan International University Elshad Abdullayev.

Sadigli was charged with Article 178.3.1 (fraud by an organized group), Article 220.2 (incitement to mass unrest), and Article 320 (forgery of documents). Temirkhan (a Dutch citizen) was charged under Article 220.2 and Article 281.2 (open provocation against the state). Elshad Abdullayev (a former university rector living in France) was charged under Article 311.1 (bribery), Article 213.1 (tax evasion), and Article 130.1 (illegal organ trafficking).

The arrest warrants follow an investigation launched in March 2025 against several exiled bloggers, including Rafael Piriyev, Ilgar Hajiyev, Mahammad Mirzali, Gurban Mammadov, Elshad Mammadov, Gabil Mammadov, and Tural Sadigli.

arrested TikTokers released under house arrest

2024 was a year of a series of arrests of TikTokers in Azerbaijan. In April 2024, approximately 60 TikTokers were called in for questioning and received various administrative sentences or fines. In December 2024, authorities in Azerbaijan issued arrest warrants against 10 TikTok users. Some were arrested on the grounds of drug possession, others for gambling. The Ministry of Internal Affairs accused the TikTokers of promoting immorality. At the time of their arrest, veteran journalist and former director of the now defunct Turan News Agency, Mehman Aliyev, told Meydan TV in an interview that the arrests were likely connected to the law on media introduced in 2022. 

On May 30, 2025, by a decision of the Baku Court of Appeal, three of the men arrested in December were released under house arrest. Vugar Zeynalzadeh, nicknamed “Vaga”, Maharram Hasanov, nicknamed “Tosu”, and Emin Abdullayev.

 Zeynalzade and Hasanov were arrested under drug possession charges, and Abdullayev was charged with legalization of a large amount of property obtained by crime by an organized group and organizing gambling.

In 2025, reports surfaced of at least three more TikTokers being arrested and receiving administrative sentences and reprimands. 

meclis.info website founders on trial

In April 2024, police arrested Imran Aliyev, one of the founders of the meclis.info website, at the Baku Haydar Aliyev International Airport. Aliyev was accused of smuggling charges and sent into pretrial detention. Since then, additional charges have been leveled against him, including abuse of power, illegal entrepreneurship, tax evasion, and document forgery – all of which he denies. On June 10, 2025, Aliyev and the website’s second founder, Elgiz Gahraman, heard the full indictment in their case at a hearing in Baku. 

According to the indictment, meclis.info’s website and social media accounts were not properly registered. As a result, Aliyev, Gahraman, and a third colleague, Tamella Musayeva, are accused of receiving undeclared foreign funding through meclis.info and engaging in smuggling. The indictment also claims all three forged documents while committing smuggling, purportedly in cahoots with Abzas Media journalists. If convicted, Aliyev, Gahraman, and Musayeva face a minimum of seven and up to twelve years in prison.

Elgiz Gahraman and Tamella Musayeva were placed under police supervision in February 2025, facing the exact charges as Aliyev. Gahraman has been under a travel ban since April 2024 due to an investigation related to the Abzas Media case.

Majlis.info was launched in 2023 and published analytical pieces about the activities of the Azerbaijani parliament and the often-controversial statements made by its members.

journalist and editor-in-chief arrested

On February 5, 2025, Azerbaijani authorities detained independent journalist Shamshad Aghayev, editor-in-chief of the online media outlet arqument.az. His residence was searched, and personal belongings, including electronic devices, were confiscated. Aghayev has been charged with smuggling under Article 206.3.2 of the Azerbaijani Criminal Code, which pertains to smuggling committed by a group of persons in collusion. He has been placed in pretrial detention for two months and one day. 

Aghayev’s lawyer, Shahla Humbatova, contends that there is no basis for his arrest, noting that he was already under a travel ban as a witness in a Toplum TV case. Aghayev denies the charges, asserting that his detention is linked to his journalistic activities. 

On February 6, journalist Shahnaz Huseynova (Beylergizi) was arrested and placed in pretrial detention for three months and 15 days. The journalist affiliated with Toplum TV is facing multiple charges, including engaging workers in any form of employment without a legally binding employment contract, large-scale illegal entrepreneurship, legalization of property through criminal means by an organized group (money laundering); the same actions committed on a large scale; smuggling committed by an organized group; tax evasion committed by an organized group. 

These arrests attest to Baku authorities’ continued relentless crackdown against remaining independent media and journalists in the country. Since November 2023, journalists from several online news platforms, including Abzas Media, Toplum TV, Kanal 13, Kanal 11, and Meydan TV have been targeted with arrests. 

activist receives conditional sentence

Civic activist Famil Khalilov has been handed a conditional sentence of 3 years with a 2-year probation period. Khalilov was arrested on May 2, 2024, on spurious drug charges. He was transferred under house arrest in December 2024. The activist was accused of drug charges – possession of a large amount of drugs with the intent to sell. Police claimed they confiscated 13 grams of methamphetamine in his pocket during his arrest. The activist refuted the allegations at the time, saying drugs were planted on him during his arrest. On February 6, 2025, when the verdict was being read, the activist was found guilty under drug possession charges, except “without the intent to sell.”

 Khalilov was deported from Sweden in 2023 after unsuccessfully seeking asylum there.

Paralyzed in both arms, Khalilov lived with his wife and three children. The activist was vocal on social media platforms, often criticizing the authorities and calling for protests.  

Drug possession charges are commonly used to target political and civic activists in Azerbaijan. Authorities in Azerbaijan have also been closely monitoring social media platforms, taking various measures against citizens using the platforms to express their criticism against the state. While administrative detentions, fines, or prophylactic “conversations” at police stations are standard measures, long-term arrests are also common. 

While it is difficult to estimate an exact number of politically motivated drug-related charges handed down for online criticism, some of the well-known cases include that of Jabbar Savalan (2011) – a political activist who was arrested on drug charges after calling for protests on Facebook; Hilal Mammadov (2012) – journalist and editor-in-chief of the newspaper Tolishi Sado (charges against the journalist were later expanded to include treason and inciting ethnic hatred); Rashad Ramazanov (2013) – a blogger. There are many others. According to documentation by Azerbaijan Internet Watch, government critics targeted with drug charges include Elshan Teymurov (2020), Elmir Abbasov (2021), Sardar Asgarov (2021), Shahin Haciyev (2021), Razi Humbatov (2022), Mahir Azimov (2023), Ruslan Vahabov (2023), Zeka Miragayev (2023), Elvin Sadigov, Movsum Mammadov (2023). 

media development agency wants another website blocked

According to reporting by Meydan TV, the Media Development Agency (MEDİA) has filed a lawsuit to block the news site “Anaxeber.info.” The website’s editor-in-chief, Azer Talibov, told Meydan TV that the blocking request is linked to the website’s critical reporting covering corruption, government misconduct, and social issues. He claimed that despite multiple requests from the Media Agency and other institutions to remove specific articles, he refused, and this legal action is a form of retaliation. He also mentioned that he did not register with the Media Registry.

Previously, the Media Development Agency had taken similar actions against other websites. On November 14, 2023, the “dia.az” website was blocked, followed by “teref.info” and several others, based on Baku Court of Appeals rulings.

Azerbaijani lawmakers passed the controversial law on media in December 2021. It came into force in 2022. As part of the law, authorities introduced the Media Registry in September 2022, which sparked protests from independent media outlets, journalists, and editors who feared the registry would have grave consequences on media freedom in a country with rampant censorship. 

Critics of the draft law worried the new legal document would seriously threaten media freedom, including online media resources, as it contains provisions granting a discretionary power to the state to regulate media excessively, especially online media, as well as introduce further restrictions on journalists’ work, media companies, and relevant entities. Critics were also vocal about the absence of a broad and meaningful public consultation of the law before its adoption. 

As part of the new law, a registry system for online media outlets and journalists working for online media platforms or working as freelance journalists was envisioned. This and other provisions of the law raised several questions regarding the compliance of the law with the international standards on media freedom.

The Venice Commission issued a negative opinion on the law, and a group of Azerbaijan journalists and media leaders filed a lawsuit with the Constitutional Court of Azerbaijan in 2023, arguing that the law contradicts Azerbaijan’s Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights. The Constitutional Court has yet to review the case.

The first time Talibov’s website was blocked was in 2018 when the website existed under a different URL – Anaxeber.az. Despite Talibov’s attempt to challenge the decision, he was unsuccessful. In the same year, access to “Az24saat.org” and “Xural.com” were also blocked.

On June 13, 2024, the ECHR ruled in favor of four blocked media outlets, finding that their blocking violated their right to freedom of expression. The court ordered the Azerbaijani government to pay each applicant €5,000 in compensation, but Talıbov claims that the compensation has not yet been paid.

The practice of blocking of websites in Azerbaijan began in 2017 with the blocking of “Azadlıq” Radio (azadliq.org), “Azadlıq” newspaper (azadliq.info), Meydan TV (meydan.tv), Turan TV (turan.tv), and “Azərbaycan Saatı” (azerbaycansaati.org).

At the time, the authorities argued the reasons for blocking these websites were, calls aimed at “forcible change of the constitutional order,” “organization of mass riots,” and other illegal activities. These websites were considered independent and/or platforms affiliated with opposition parties. As a result, the decision to block them was based on legal claims that lacked evidence. This was further reflected in the review process when the decision to block these platforms was implemented. According to EHRAC, “no effective and independent review took place in the first instance decision to block access to the websites in 2017, and in subsequent appeals. The courts accepted the authorities’ allegations at face value and did not attempt to consider or explain adequately why the content was unlawful.”

The intentions behind the blocking decision were further reflected in subsequent actions by the Government of Azerbaijan against the online platforms. Such that, at the time of the first decision to block these websites for access in 2017, the Azerbaijani Government claimed these websites continued disseminating their content through VPN services or social media platforms and therefore the action taken against them did not cause significant changes to the published content. However, in February 2020, the Ministry of Transportation, Communications and High Technologies “requested the domestic courts to impose a ban on the applicants’ ability to share their content through VPN services and social media platforms.”

Azerbaijan creates Commission on Countering External Interference and Hybrid Threats

In September 2024, the Milli Majlis (Azerbaijani Parliament) established a special commission on foreign interference and hybrid threats. MP Ramid Namazov chairs the commission, which comprises several members of parliament. The commission was set up shortly after Pavel Durov visited Azerbaijan (more on that here and here.)

The commission’s mandate includes preparing reports on instances of external interference and hybrid threats and formulating proposals to counteract them. It is authorized to issue statements, conduct public hearings, collaborate with relevant executive and judicial authorities, and participate in committee discussions of draft laws. The commission is set to operate during the five-year term of the 7th Milli Majlis. The latter was formed following a snap parliamentary election that took place in a restricted environment, with voter fraud and violations abounding.

The set-up of the commission was justified as a need to prevent the alleged destruction of the state and neutralize the threats of a hybrid war.

In November 2024, the commission published its first report shortly after Baku completed hosting COP29 – the global climate conference. The report looked at “primary hybrid threats” that targeted Azerbaijan during COP29 with a list of “suspects,” which included foreign states and international human rights organizations, which the commission alleged were behind these “threats.”

Among many references, the report mentioned coordinated efforts by fake accounts causing the spread of disinformation. What the report identified as disinformation were statements, reports, investigations, and countless articles describing the state of freedom and human rights in the country. There was no mention of the government’s coordinated campaign, as reported by The Guardian here.

The report also targeted several international human rights organizations, governments, and their legislative bodies, who have published reports/statements on the ongoing crackdown. These claims were screenshots of all the content that questioned the government’s track record on climate justice, rights, and freedoms. 

The report’s overall conclusion centered around a premise that “funds invested in these campaigns” were “largely wasted” as the campaign failed to reach a “broad audience” or “achieve its objectives.” 

In January 2025, the commission reported that as part of the measures to protect the integrity and security of the Azerbaijani state, it continued to monitor social media platforms mainly from the “neighboring state” [without mentioning any names] to identify insidious activities that may pose a threat to the unity and national-moral values ​​of the Azerbaijani people. As a result, the commission identified more than 300 accounts, including Facebook (124 accounts), Instagram (67 accounts), Telegram (67 accounts), YouTube (32 accounts), and X (10 accounts.)

The monitoring “revealed that harmful and radical religious-ideological propaganda aimed at sowing discord among our citizens, creating polarization, changing the constitutional structure of the state, and forming distrust towards state institutions was being carried out in a coordinated manner.”

The commission then encouraged Azerbaijani citizens “not to believe false and fake information” and said the monitoring findings were “submitted to the relevant state bodies to take appropriate measures.”

activist handed down jail sentence over online posts

On January 28, 2025, the Baku Court for Serious Crimes sentenced Elshan Karimov to six years in prison.

The charges were based on his social media posts defending political prisoners in Azerbaijan, which authorities interpreted as incitement to overthrow the government. Karimov and his supporters assert that his arrest and sentencing are politically motivated, aiming to suppress dissent. 

The activist was detained in April 2024 in the village of Rustamli, Yevlakh region, while attending his father’s funeral. He was charged under Article 281.1 of the Azerbaijani Criminal Code, which pertains to public calls for the violent seizure of power. 

website editor sentenced to 8 years

The director of the website “dunyaninsesi.az”, Arshad Ibrahimov, who has been in prison since December 2023 on extortion by threat charges, was sentenced to 8 years on January 24, 2025

Ibrahimov refutes allegations leveled against him. During his defense, Ibrahimov said the charges were bogus and were linked to the website’s reports of police misconduct in various districts across the country he has reported. 

In his final statement, Ibrahimov claimed he had been under pressure from the Organized Crime Department for a long time due to his website’s reports on police misconduct. In 2014, he was arrested by the Organized Crime Department and convicted under the same criminal article. At the time, he was sentenced to 11 years. The sentence was later reduced to 10 years on appeal and then to 5 years by the Supreme Court. He was released early through a presidential pardon.

Ibrahimov also said that a year before his most recent arrest, he was detained, held for a day, and forced to delete critical articles about the police. Ibrahimov said that the head of the department, Abulfat Rzayev, warned him that if he continued publishing adverse reports about the police, he would be arrested—which eventually happened.

During the hearing, Ibrahimov’s lawyer, Zabil Gahramanov, argued that people who the website editor allegedly blackmailed said they had no complaints against Ibrahimov. During the testimony, they said the Organized Crime Department pressured them to file a complaint. 

His lawyer announced that they would appeal the verdict.

residents forced to remove posts under duress

In Azerbaijan’s administrative district of Imishli (İmişli), scores of residents were detained, internet speed throttled, and, according to reports by local media, all entry and exit points to the town were placed under heavy control by internal troops dispatched to the area. This followed a protest in reaction to an accident reported on January 18, in which four schoolchildren were struck by a police car following a collision with a civilian car. 

Residents first noticed internet throttling following the accident.

In the follow-up reports by local media, several residents who filmed the protests and shared the video content on social media platforms were subject to pressure and intimidation. The content that was posted was forcibly removed. 

Qulu Mammadli, a member of the local branch of the opposition Popular Front Party, was summoned by the authorities on January 19. In an interview with OC Media, Mammadli said that after posting about the internal troops entering the town in the afternoon, he was forced to go in for questioning, and he was also forced to remove the video footage he shared on Facebook earlier that day. Other party members, including Sarvan Ahmadov, were also briefly detained, questioned and forced to remove social media posts, according to reporting by Meydan TV.

A member of the opposition Musavat party, Alikram Khurshidov, was handed a 10-day administrative detention over his social media posts about the accident.

The government of Azerbaijan has throttled internet access before and has deployed an arsenal of surveillance technology to keep tabs on its citizens. An annual report on internet freedoms by Freedom House ranked the country “not free” in its most recent country report.