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After posting a poem dedicated to the first lady of Azerbaijan on the occasion of her birthday, the poet, Ibrahim Khudai was called into questioning. Shortly before his visit he removed the poem from the social media platform Facebook according to reports.  According to Khudai statements to the media, he was called in not for […]

In the following featured legal analysis, AIW looks at the litigation work carried out thus far in Azerbaijan on devices infected by Pegasus. Specifically, this legal analysis looks at how Pegasus spyware was deployed to monitor journalists, lawyers, and activists in Azerbaijan and the legal steps taken within the existing national legislative framework to mitigate […]

Political activist Bakhtiyar Hajiyev was unlawfully detained yet again according to reports by Azerbaijani media. During the interrogation, which lasted six hours, Hajiyev’s Facebook posts in which he criticized the Ministry of the Internal Affairs were removed.  In his own statement, Hajiyev said, he was threatened that less he removed the posts, and stops writing […]

Magsud Aliyev, a political activist, was arrested on August 16 and sentenced to 30 days in administrative detention on charges of disobeying police according to local media reports. Speaking to Turan News Agency, Aliyev’s father, Faig Aliyev, said the family was not aware of their son’s arrest until they heard it from his friends, days […]

[Update] On September 5, a local court sentenced Rahimova to 460hours of community service. Rahimova’s lawyer said they will be appealing the decision.  Gulnara Rahimova is a member of the opposition Popular Front party. On August 11, Rahimova shared a Facebook post in which she described how she was unlawfully detained while on her way […]

A recent conference organized by the Prosecutor General’s office in Baku on the recent violations of media legislation has raised eyebrows among civil society. On August 10, an event, titled, “Freedom of the Media and Information Security of Society under the Increasing Influence of Social Networks,” was held at the General Prosecutor’s Office.  Among the […]

Elnur Shahverdiyev is a member of a political party ReAL, and an avid critic of the state on social media platforms. According to information provided by his brother, Shahverdiyev was detained by the police on July 14 at his place of work. “Police showed up at the bakery where Shahverdiyev worked, and said, there was […]

At least five servicemen were reportedly expelled from the army in August.  According to reports, on August 2, junior sergeant Sanan Farajov and private Yusid Bayramli were expelled from the army for having shared photos and videos from the military service on their personal social media accounts. In a statement released by the Ministry of […]

The questioning of political activist Ruslan Izzatli, on July 28 over his social media post renewed concerns over government oversight of social media platforms and its non-transparent approach to cherry-picking issues that it deems unfit for public discussion. Izzatli was not the first person to receive a call from the Prosecutor General’s Office last month […]

[UPDATE] By August 8, four more citizens were called in for questioning over their social media posts about the military operations in Azerbaijan reported Qaynarinfo.az. Rustam Ismayilbeyli, Farid Huseynov, Elmar Mammadov, Gulay Eyvazova were all invited to the Prosecutor’s Office where all four received a warning. Ismayilbeyli, who is a political activist, wrote on his […]