Incident reports

This month, a series of articles published by The Guardian newspaper revealed how leaders across the world, used Facebook loopholes to harass their critics at home. And how despite having information about these violations, the platform lets these cases sit sometimes for months on end if not more, instead choosing to deal with more high […]

A page on Facebook took it upon itself to target yet another woman in Azerbaijan. This time, the target is the daughter of politician Jamil Hasanli, Gunel Hasanli. Not only that, but the page also is advertising a telegram channel, where they claim an intimate video of Ms. Hasanli is available.  Another page, previously engaged […]

[Update June 15] On June 12, French police arrested two men suspected of being sent to France to kill Mirzali. According to RSF, the two men – one Azerbaijani and the second Moldovan of Turkish origin – “were driving Polish-registered cars, and both had Mirzali’s address.”  Mirzali tweeted about the arrest too: Two men, on different […]

What does art, shopping retail, web design, sports, cosmetics, and e-commerce website have in common? Absolutely nothing, except these, are all various categories available on Facebook when setting up pages. Since 2019, Facebook removed the limit on the number of pages a user can set up. Unfortunately, Facebook did not take into account, how this […]

On March 1, Access Now released the #KeepItOn report that documents incidents of internet shutdowns globally for the year 2020.  According to the findings of the report: there were 155 Internet shutdowns documented across 29 countries; there were 28 complete internet blackouts;  out of the 155 internet shutdowns, six incidents were bandwidth throttling; there were […]

[Updated] The targeting of women on telegram channels continues. On March 15, AIW was informed that the new target is the girlfriend of student activist Rustam Ismayilbeyli. Ismayilbeyli was targeted in September 2020 when a fake profile that belonged to the state security services informed Ismayilbeyli that personal information including intimate photos of Ismayilbeyli and his […]

The tale of corruption in Azerbaijan is no news to anyone familiar with the country’s history of money laundering, slush funds, and other fraudulent misconduct. From countless investigations, such as Caviar Diplomacy, Azerbaijani Laundromat and Panama Papers, and most recently OCCRP report about massive weapons deal with Congo-Brazzaville, the extent of involvement of key leadership […]

Phishing and spear-phishing attacks targeting activists, rights defenders, journalists in Azerbaijan is a common occurrence. AIW has documented several of these attacks in recent years. Previously, these cases were investigated and reported by international organizations. The most recent victim of a spear-phishing attack in Azerbaijan was Ruhid Karimli, a political activist, and member of an […]

[Update] Blogger Elchin Hasanzade, was released from jail on November 2 according to reporting by Meydan TV. Following his release, Hasanzade said, “I am free. I must go on. The fight against corrupted and tyrant officials continues from where it stopped.” [Update] Turan News Agency reported on August 10 that blogger Elchin Hasanzade was transferred […]

[Update] On March 3, Sumgayit Appeal Court held a hearing in the case of arrested N!DA member Elmir Abbasov. During the hearing, Abbasov recounted how he was taken off the street, beaten, and humiliated by the local police and how they planted drugs on him. The presiding judge, Elman Ahmadov, prevented journalists, civil society representatives, […]