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Jamil Mammadli is a regional freelance reporter often covering stories and developments from Northern Azerbaijan. In March 2021, Mammadli was sentenced to 1 year and 6 months of correctional labor. The charges were leveled against the journalist based on a complaint from the head of the regional district executive authority, Ziyaddin Aliyev. Aliyev claimed, that […]

[Update] On May 18, the appeal court denied the blogger’s appeal, refusing to review the blogger’s statement that he voluntarily showed up at the police station. The court also dismissed discrepancies in the case presented by the defense including the alleged claim that the blogger was released a day after his detention or that instead […]

[Updated July 4] On July 1, the Sabunchu district court of Baku dismissed human rights activist and journalist Elchin Mammad’s application for parole in connection with serving half of his prison term according to reporting by Turan News Agency. Mammad’s lawyer said they intend to file an appeal as the court’s decision is unreasonable. In […]

[Update] On June 10, the editor-in-chief of Sputnik Azerbaijan, Antonava-Tryzno Veranika, had her local residency permit revoked according to reporting by Meydan TV. Olegovna, a citizen of Belarus, lived in Azerbaijan together with her husband, Pavel Antonava. The decision was made by the State Migration Service on June 6. The couple was denied their application […]

Bakthiyar Hajiyev is a political activist from Azerbaijan. In February 2020, AIW published this story about threats and intimidation Hajiyev was facing. Despite numerous requests made to the relevant government institutions to investigate, Hajiyev’s complaints remained unanswered. Instead, attacks continued. In September 2021, Hajiyev was reportedly threatened by Baku Police Chief Alekper Ismayilov over a […]

On April 13, Zahir Amanov, editor of an online news site cenub.az was detained according to Azadliq Radio, Azerbaijan language service for Radio Liberty.  Amanov, 70, is also the founder of the said website which covers regional news in southern Azerbaijan.  According to reporting by Turan News Agency, Amanov was detained on charges of extortion […]

This month, Meta released its pilot quarterly Adversarial Threat Report. Among the countries mentioned in the report, is Azerbaijan where the platform said it has identified “a hybrid network operated by the Ministry of the Internal Affairs.” According to the document, this network relied on, what Meta refers to as, “Coordinated Inauthentic Behavior [CIB]” in […]

Imran Aliyev, a civil society activist, and founder of meclis.info, a parliament watchdog group, went reportedly missing on March 29, 2022. Aliyev is also a digital security consultant and valuable partner of Azerbaijan Internet Watch. In Azerbaijan, Aliyev has worked with local non-governmental organizations since 2008. He has done numerous digital security workshops with local […]

In this legal analysis of the recently adopted media bill, AzNet Watch together with an independent human rights lawyer looks at the implications of the new law specifically on online media and journalists in Azerbaijan.  On February 8, 2022, the president of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev approved the new Media Law. The law was adopted by […]

In recent weeks AIW has documented an uptick in digital attacks against civil society activists in Azerbaijan. On February 17, AIW reported a targeted wave of attacks on political activist Abulfaz Gurbanli. Although he was able to restore access to his Facebook account, more hacking attempts were documented on February 23. At the time of […]