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In its official statement released on 6 December 2024, Meydan TV disclosed the sudden detention of seven collaborators—including staff reporters and freelancers. Homes were searched, personal belongings seized, and equipment confiscated. The detainees, charged with “smuggling foreign currency,” included Ramin Jabrayilzade (Deko), Aytaj Ahmadova (Tapdig), Aynur Ganbarova (Elgunesh), Natig Javadli, Khayala Aghayeva, Aysel Umudova, and Ulvi Tahirov. […]

When Pavel Durov, Telegram’s founder, was detained in France, the first thing I noticed was that he had arrived in France from Azerbaijan. Naturally, the first question that came to mind was what Durov was doing in Azerbaijan. Thanks to his assistant Julia Vavilova or Juli Maletc, as she is known on Instagram, that question […]

According to local media reports, the ministry of education adopted a series of amendments to the “Rules of ethical behavior of educators” document on May 15. According to the changes, educators (as in all teachers and academics employed within the institutions under the Ministry of Education) must adhere to the principles of lawfulness, honest behavior, […]

Famil Khalilov, 34, is Azerbaijani civic activist who was arrested on May 2, 2024. Khalilov was extradited from Sweden in 2023 and since then, lived in Azerbaijan together with his wife and three children. The activist suffers from cerebral palsy and is officially classified with a first degree disability. Authorities however accuse the activist of […]

On March 6, police stormed the office of Toplum TV, an online news platform in Baku. While the office was searched, the police questioned some fifteen staff members. Among those detained were interns and the tech team. While nine were released after questioning, at least six other journalists were sent to pre-trial custody on bogus […]

[Update] On February 24, 2025, Baghirov was sentenced to 12 years in prison and a three-year ban on doing journalism.  According to local media reports, SalamNews and InterAz founder and editor Matlab Baghirov appeared in court on February 27, 2024. He has been in pretrial detention since January 31, 2023. According to pro-government media, Baghirov […]

Farid Suleymanov was arrested on January 8, 2024. He was sentenced to 30-day administrative detention. And although Suleymanov was scheduled for release on February 7 – the day of snap presidential elections – he was instead taken back to BandOtdel – the department for combating organized crime at the Ministry of the Interior.  Suleymanov is […]

[Update] On March 3, 2025, Sayadoglu was sentenced to seven years.  Arzu Sayadoglu, known as a blogger who often critiques the state officials and the government, was reportedly arrested on January 28, 2024. According to family and friends, the blogger first went missing after an interview with an opposition YouTube channel, AzadSoz. It was announced […]

In Azerbaijan’s southern region of Lenkoran, residents complained of power cuts. According to reporting by Meydan TV, heavy snowfall in the area since January 14 caused power cuts and disruptions to access to telecommunications across several villages and in the city itself. In one village, there was no internet for a week after the snowfall, […]

[Update] Karimov was sentenced to eight years on December 28, 2024. He was also banned from doing journalism for two years. On May 15, 2025, Karimov’s sentence was reduced by one year in an appeal court.  Kanal 11 editor Teymur Karimov reportedly went missing on December 11. However, the same day, the Ministry of Internal […]