Azerbaijan jails journalists and NGO workers amid media crackdown

A Baku court sentenced nine journalists and NGO workers to between 12 and 15 years in prison on Monday, escalating a crackdown on independent media in Azerbaijan. The individuals, associated with the prominent independent outlet Toplum TV, were arrested in March during police raids on their offices.

Among those sentenced are Toplum TV employees Mushfig Jabbar, Farid Ismayilov, and Elmir Abbasov, along with four NGO workers and a democracy advocate linked to the news agency. Toplum TV founder Alasgar Mammadli was arrested two days later. All nine have rejected the charges, asserting they are politically motivated.

Toplum TV had recently published investigations into alleged corruption involving government officials and family members of the head of state security. This reporting appears to be the catalyst for the crackdown, as dozens of media workers have been arrested since 2023 on various charges, including money laundering and tax evasion.

The European Federation of Journalists condemned the verdict as "extremely harsh" and called for the immediate release of the defendants. "The court's verdict confirms the political nature of the trial and the authorities' desire to intimidate and silence journalists who are simply doing their job," the federation stated.

Human rights organizations have long accused Azerbaijan, led by President Ilham Aliyev since 2003, of persecuting opposition media and independent journalism. The Committee to Protect Journalists reported that last year, the Caucasus nation ranked sixth globally for the number of imprisoned journalists, behind only Belarus, Russia, Israel, Myanmar, and China.

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The court's verdict confirms the political nature of the trial and the authorities' desire to intimidate and silence journalists who are simply doing their job.