News

Seymur Aghayev, a student, said police unlawfully took him to a police station where he was held for some two hours on September 27. The men who first asked Aghayev to confirm his identity were ununiformed explained Aghayev following his release. When Aghayev asked the reason for this inquiry his questions remained unanswered. The men […]

[Update] Speaking to a group of journalists on October 20, activist Ahmed Mammadli said his arrest was ordered by the state and that he was now being sent against his will to complete the compulsory military service less he drops his advocacy around peaceful coexistence between the two nations. The authorities said they would guarantee […]

On September 22, Aziz Orujov, the director and founder of Kanal 13, an online television platform, was questioned by the Prosecutor’s General office, according to reporting by Meydan TV.   In an interview with Meydan TV, Orucov said, the Prosecutor’s Office claimed, Kanal 13 published video items damaging the reputation of the Azerbaijani Army, and casting […]

On September 16, Toplum TV, an online news platform had its Facebook page hacked. The hacker accessed the account by hacking one employee’s personal Facebook profile. As a result, the news platform lost 26k of its followers and two weeks’ worth of shared content.  In an interview with Meydan TV, the platform’s director, journalist Khadija […]

[Update] According to Turan News Agency reporting, the temporary ban on TikTok placed in September was removed. The decision was announced by the service for electronic safety at the Ministry of Digitial Development and Transport.  Users of the social media platform TikTok in Azerbaijan started reporting difficulties accessing the application as early as September 13. […]

Earlier this week, on 12th September 2022, fighting erupted between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops along their border. Over the next few days, community members in Azerbaijan reported that the TikTok app was blocked locally. We analyzed OONI network measurement data to investigate the block. We found that TikTok has been blocked in both Azerbaijan and Armenia over the last few days. In this […]

[Update] On February 26, Zeynalli was sentenced to nine years behind bars, while Shukurov received a four-year sentence.   [Update] On January 5, the Baku Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the December 29 court decision [see previous updates below]. According to the appellate court’s ruling, releasing Zeynalli under house arrest would interrupt the course of […]

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 […]