blogger – Azerbaijan Internet Watch

Blogger Manaf Jalilzade Sentenced to 8 Years in Absentia

Posted on March 6, 2026 by aiw_admin

The story was originally published on Meydan TV. This is a translated and edited version.

The Baku Court for Serious Crimes has sentenced Azerbaijani blogger Manaf Jalilzade — who lives abroad — to 8 years in prison. The verdict was delivered in absentia.

Jalilzade, currently residing in Switzerland, was charged with “calls against the state” under two articles of the Criminal Code: incitement to mass disorder and calls against the constitutional order. Prosecutors alleged he shared footage from a 2019 protest near the UN building in Geneva on YouTube, and between 2023 and 2025, published videos inciting violence against the government.

Switzerland’s Federal Ministry of Justice had previously rejected Azerbaijan’s extradition request, citing risks of torture and denial of a fair trial if he were returned. Jalilzade denies all charges, calling them baseless.

Broader Context

His case is part of a wider pattern. On December 26, 2025, a Baku court sentenced another group of diaspora bloggers in absentia: Gurban Mammadov and Tural Sadiqli each received 14 years, while five others received 9-year sentences. Most of the defendants reject the charges as politically motivated.

In recent years, Azerbaijan has opened criminal cases against numerous bloggers and activists living abroad, with charges typically including incitement to mass unrest, calls to armed uprising, terrorism, and fraud.

Blogger Arrested Under Newly Amended Information Law [updated Feb 23]

Posted on February 2, 2026February 25, 2026 by aiw_admin

On February 2, TikTok blogger Salman Mammadov — known online as “Velizar” — was administratively detained on charges of disseminating prohibited content. Mammadov had attracted widespread public attention through live fundraising streams.

The arrest followed amendments to the Law on Information, Informatization and Protection of Information, signed by President Ilham Aliyev. The amendments ban the mass dissemination of content deemed to insult public morality or show explicit disrespect for society in a manner contrary to national moral values.

Six People Fined or Jailed for Social Media Posts

The same legal framework has produced its first documented wave of enforcement actions. According to a formal statement by the Prosecutor General’s Office, six people have already been penalised for social media posts under the new provisions: four received administrative detention, and two were fined.

The Prosecutor General’s Office stated that those individuals had posted content “insulting public morality, displaying open disrespect and content contrary to ethics” on social networks. Authorities issued a public warning that “the digital space is not a lawless or uncontrolled zone,” and threatened continued enforcement against anyone publishing content that targets national moral values.

The relevant article carries penalties of between 500 and 1,000 manat or up to 30 days’ administrative detention for a first offence. Repeat offenders face fines of 1,000–2,000 manat or detention of one to two months.

Former Investigator Arrested for Facebook Post Contradicting President

On February 23, Mushfig Abbasov — a former investigator at the Baku City Chief Prosecutor’s Office — was sentenced to 15 days of administrative detention by the Yasamal District Court following a request from the prosecution.

He was found in violation of Article 388-1.1.1 of the Administrative Offences Code, which prohibits posting content on information networks or telecommunications networks that is prohibited by law.

The post in question was a brief Facebook status update that directly contradicted a remark by President Ilham Aliyev at the Munich Security Conference. After Aliyev declared that “there are no independent media anywhere in the world,” Abbasov wrote: “There are no independent media in the world, but we have some.” That sentence was sufficient grounds for his detention. Abbasov had previously been imprisoned for bribery.

authorities arrest another blogger and block access to a public forum

Posted on February 22, 2024June 24, 2024 by aiw_admin

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 an activist, lawyer, and blogger from Azerbaijan. Active on a number of social platforms, Suleymanov ran a TikTok channel called “I saw it, I showed you.” Through his videos, Suleymanov raised awareness of the illegal activities of the traffic police, exposing their unlawfulness. For this, he has been questioned several times but let go. He also informs his audience via his social media channels of other challenges and issues in the country.

According to this video on Suleymanov’s YouTube channel, he was approached by a group of unknown men, who, without introducing themselves, shoved him into a white Mercedes and took him to BandOtdel.

Separately, Az-net Watch received an anonymous email from a reader informing the platform of the blocking of a Russian-language forum www.baku365.com. According to the information shared in the email, all three main mobile operators and local ISPs have blocked access to the website. On what grounds remains unclear. Earlier, Suleymanov’s daughter shared a post about her father’s unlawful arrest and detention.

blogger arrested [update March 3, 2025]

Posted on January 28, 2024June 12, 2025 by aiw_admin

[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 two days later that the blogger was arrested and sent into pre-trial detention.

Meydan TV reported that the blogger was sentenced to four months in pre-trial detention and charged with extortion.

Authorities arrest blogger despite lack of evidence [Update March 1, 2024]

Posted on August 24, 2023June 24, 2024 by aiw_admin

[Update] Mammadli may face a possible eight-year sentence, according to the hearing, which took place on February 29. During the hearing, lawyer Fariz Namazli said his defendant is being charged with the crimes without evidence proving Mammadli indeed committed fraud, hooliganism, and extortion.

August 24, 2023 – Blogger Jamil Mammadli is facing multiple charges, including fraud, hooliganism, and extortion, and has been placed in administrative detention pending investigation, according to reports by local media.

The allegations leveled against the blogger claim that Mammadli allegedly influenced the participants of the trial and spread insulting posts about them on social networks.

As such, according to the blogger’s lawyer, Fariz Namazli, the state prosecutor and the plaintiffs claim Mammadli allegedly obstructed the “legality” of the trial. Yet, after reviewing Mammadli’s social media posts, the blogger’s defense has concluded that the blogger’s posts were irrelevant to the trial. Moreover, the State Prosecutor failed to provide substantial evidence proving that the blogger was involved in any influence over the trial participants.

Lawyer Namazli views the case as an attempt to restrict the blogger’s freedom of expression.

Mammadli was sentenced to one and a half years of community service in March 2022. At the time, the lawsuit was based on videos on Mammadli’s YouTube channel in which Mammadli claimed the executive branch was embezzling funds from persons receiving welfare payments.

blogger accused of disobeying police

Posted on March 30, 2023June 24, 2024 by aiw_admin

Nurlan Jafarli, an Azerbaijani blogger was sentenced to 15 days in administrative detention for disobeying police and petty hooliganism according to reporting by MeydanTV.

Jafarli was arrested during a protest outside the Ministry of Justice on March 30. According to the reports, Jafarli, who was among the journalists covering the protest, shared via his Facebook an inquiry addressed to the Ministry of the Interior and the spokesperson for the ministry. In the post shared on the social media platform, Jafarli wrote about police violence the blogger was subject to while filming the protest for an online YouTube channel, Time TV, and that as a result, his phone was broken. “The officer you see in the video first hit me, then knocked me to the ground. As a result, I dropped my phone and cracked the screen […] I personally promise in front public that either the police officer will contact me and fix my phone himself, or I will be arrested on the grounds of using violence against a police officer.”

Jafarli, freelances for various online television channels.

The Ministry of the Interior alleged Jafarli was arrested for interrupting police and acting outside journalism ethics.

a court in Azerbaijan jails the host of a YouTube show [Updated January, 2023]

Posted on July 16, 2022June 24, 2024 by aiw_admin

[Update] According to local media reports, Gafarov suffered a clinical death on December 22, 2022, while receiving treatment in a medical facility of the prison service. However, instead of keeping him at the medical facility, the prison management decided to transfer Gafarov back to prison.

Abid Gafarov, was sentenced to one year in prison on charges of insult and slander by a court in Baku. Speaking to the media after the verdict, Gafarov’s lawyer, Elchind Sadigov, said the charges leveled against his client were bogus. Gafarov, hosted a YouTube channel Kim.TV [Who is?]. He is also known for his coverage of the “Terter case” – a “notorious case in which dozens of military officers accused of spying for Armenia were tortured.”

Gafarov, is the second person to be targeted in the last two months who have been previously involved in coverage of the Terter Case. On June 10, lawyer and activist Ilham Aslanoglu was sentenced to six months in prison on insult charges

According to local media reports, Gafarov was arrested based on complaints by a group of war veterans who felt insulted after Gafarov said during one of his shows, that the veterans were acting “obediently” instead of standing up for their rights.

The sentence was handed despite the group of veterans later withdrawing their complaint against Gafarov reported the news site Jam-News, “Veterans of the war, officially recognized as plaintiffs, wrote a corresponding statement about the withdrawal of the claim. Despite this, Judge Tarlan Akperov, who was in charge of this case, decided to refer the case to the Yasamal District Court.”

On July 16, a group of rights defenders issued a statement condemning Gafarov’s arrest.

exiled blogger says his life is in danger [updated June 3, 2022]

Posted on May 31, 2022June 24, 2024 by aiw_admin

Tural Sadigli is an Azerbaijani blogger and political activist living in exile. He is the managing editor of a YouTube channel, Azad Soz – Free Word. According to Sadigli, his life is in danger as per Facebook posts, Sadigli shared on May 29 and 31 respectively.

Attention. There is a four-man squad sent to kill me in Germany. Somehow the squad acquired my home address in Germany and have been watching the house for the last week. They have been caught on security cameras. They were sent during Ilham Aliyev’s visit to Brussels. They must have thought that I will travel to Brussels from London and visit my apartment in Germany on the way. And catch me then. [German] Police already know their identities and two of them were checked by the police. Investigations continue. It is possible that they have already left [Germany].

I assure you that my life is in danger. They are really on to me this time. The order has come from the Presidential Apparatus. This is why, my parents, who both live in Baku will be staging a protest outside of the Presidential Apparatus at 14.00pm. I ask political parties, rights defenders, activists, journalists and everyone else, to come to their support.

In an interview with Meydan TV, the political activist said, it was his work exposing the extent of government corruption and specifically that of the ruling family that is the reason behind the targeting. “There is yet a journalist, or blogger, who has visited the home of the president abroad, knocked on its door and showed the audience in Azerbaijan the properties bought on their money.” The blogger also told Meydan TV that he was warned numerous times not to talk about Mehriban Aliyeva [the wife, and first Vice President] and her team. “They even tried to buy my silence, promising a monthly salary, as long as I did not touch the president and his family,” Sadigli told Meydan TV.

This is not the first time Sadigli is threatened. Two years ago Sadigli was charged in absentia and authorities vowed to ask Interpol for his extradition. He was among a number of other activists targeted at the time.

In addition to physical threats, Azad Soz, the YouTube vlog managed by Sadigli has also been targeted. In February of this year, AzNet Watch assisted AzadSoz to restore access to several videos that were taken off from YouTube in the absence of any explanation, and likely as a result of fake “complaints.” All of the videos were about SOCAR – the state oil company, its former president Rovnaq Abdullayev and his cousin Anar Alizada. The videos explain how Azad Soz discovered in their investigations that Anar Alizade owned a fake Turkish passport by another name. At the time of takedowns, Sadigli, told AzNet Watch that the only notification that he received from YouTube was an email telling him he was subject to NetzDG Appeals and that in all likelihood, it was the state oil company and Anar Alizada behind these requests.

Similar removals took place on the channel’s Facebook page. In both cases, the videos were restored following the intervention of a third party on behalf of AzadSoz.

But the targeting did not stop there. According to Sadigli, the Facebook page was targeted again in April. “They [government sponsored trolls and actors] are studying old pictures, trying to identify violence that could be then reported by hundreds of fake accounts to Facebook as community guideline violations,” wrote the blogger on his Facebook on April 5.

Last month, in May, Azad Soz’s TikTok account was targeted as well. The account was shut down by the platform according to Sadigli. “You can shut them down, but we will open new ones. You won’t succeed at silencing Azad Soz [Free Word],” wrote Sadigli on Facebook. Previously AzadSoz was the target of inauthentic accounts on Facebook. The Guardian published this story explaining how Azad Soz’s Facebook account was flooded with over 1.5k comments over a post about two men sentenced to eight months. The Guardian investigation analyzed the top 300 comments and discovers that 294 out of 300 comments were inauthentic Facebook pages.

In 2018, Tural Sadigli, was among exiled political activists involved in a political campaign, called “Know Your Dictator.“

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