8 Journalists Given Lengthy Jail Terms as Azerbaijan Crushes Free Press - Committee to Protect Journalists

8 journalists given lengthy jail terms as Azerbaijan crushes free press - Committee to Protect Journalists

New York, June 23, 2025— Eight Azerbaijani journalists have received prison sentences ranging from 7 ½ to 15 years, as part of an ongoing series of media trials likely to obliterate independent reporting in the Caucasus nation. In a closed-door trial on Monday, columnist and peace activist Bahruz Samadov was sentenced by a court in the capital Baku to 15 years in prison for treason, after going on a hunger strike and attempting suicide the previ…

Azerbaijan: seven journalists sentenced in latest crackdown on press freedom

On 20 June, the Baku Court of Serious Crimes, in Azerbaijan, sentenced seven media workers affiliated with the independent investigative outlet Abzas Media – including director Ulvi Hasanli, editor-in-chief Sevinc Vagifgizi, investigative journalist Hafiz Babaly, reporters Nargiz Absalamova and Elnara Gasymova, translator Muhammad Kekalov, and Radio Free Europe correspondent Farid Mehralizade – to prison terms ranging from seven and a half to ni…

Azerbaijan gives eight journalists prison sentences ranging from 7.5 to 15 years, as part of a series of media trials set to obliterate independent reporting

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Azerbaijani researcher Bahruz Samadov sentenced to 15 years on charges of treason

Samadov, who has also contributed to OC Media, frequently wrote about authoritarianism in Azerbaijan.