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[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 […]

Canada-based blogger Imran Asadov was reportedly detained after arriving in Azerbaijan. Asadov, who owns a YouTube channel, openly targeted activists who were against the Karabakh war, which took place in 2020 during the 44-day war.  During questioning, and likely under duress, all of the videos on Asadov’s YouTube channel were removed. Wayback machine shows that […]

[Update] On November 27, Kanal13 online television’s director Aziz Orucov was released from custody. Orucov’s sentence ended on November 27, and he was released from Penal Institution No. 16 under the Ministry of Justice. A court in Baku ruled to block access to the YouTube channel of Kanal13 on December 20, 2023. Kanal13’s director, Aziz Orucov, […]

[Update February 24] The pre-trial detention period of Abzas Media journalist Nargiz Abusalamova was extended by another three months.  [Update February 21] Kanal 13 director Aziz Orujov’s pre-trial detention was extended by another month. [Update January 13] Police arrested another Abzas Media journalist – Elnara Gasimova. She was sentenced to pretrial detention on January 15, 2024, […]

Afiaddin Mammadov, the coordinator of Azerbaijan’s Alternative Confederation of Trade Unions, was sentenced to two months in pretrial detention in September 2023. Charged with deliberate infliction of bodily harm and armed hooliganism (based on a bogus accusation by an unidentified man claiming Mammadov stabbed him with a knife) originally, based on the hearing on November […]

[Update] Reports from Fuzuli confirm, that internet access has been restored as of October 24, 2023. Residents say that despite almost a month-long throttling, they have noticed the cash balance on their accounts has been withdrawn even though there was no internet access. Of the companies providing Internet access in Fuzuli, only Aztelekom has thus […]

[Update] Dia.az website was reportedly blocked inside the country following the court decision on November 15. The Media Development Agency filed the case with the court on November 10 [see the following update below]. The site’s manager considers the court’s decision unlawful. Zamanov told Meydan TV he will be appealing the decision. In an interview […]

[Update] On January 17, Ruslan Vahabov [see the case below] was sentenced to 4 years behind bars on drug possession charges.  [Update] Authorities continued to target civic activists critical of the state during October. Below is a compilation of some the cases documented by AIW.  October 27 – Tural Farzili was detained after a post […]