Media freedom in Azerbaijan is severely curtailed. Most Azerbaijanis receive their information from mainstream television, which is unswervingly pro-government and under strict government control. According to a 2012 report of the NGO "Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS)" Azerbaijani citizens are unable to access objective and reliable news on human rights issues relevant to Azerbaijan and the population is under-informed about matters of public interest."Semi-annual Azerbaijan freedom of expression report, January 01 – July 01, 2012" (PDF; 3,0 MB). Retrieved 21 February 2013
Reporters without Borders ranks Azerbaijan at the 167th place (between Egypt and Bahrain) out of over 180 countries on the Press Freedom Index, with a score of 58.48. Freedom House ranks Azerbaijan as "Not Free". In 2015, Azerbaijan had the largest number of journalists imprisoned in Europe and Central Asia. Independent journalists have been imprisoned. Azerbaijani authorities have a track record of prosecuting and convicting Azerbaijani exiles in absentia in sham trials for posting online commentary criticizing the Azerbaijani government.
The authoritarian Aliyev regime in Azerbaijan use a range of measures to restrict media freedom within the country. Opposition and independent media outlets and journalists have their access to print-houses and distribution networks limited, or can find themselves facing defamation charges and crippling fines and are subject to intimidation tactics, including imprisonment on fabricated charges.10 Most Censored Countries. CPJ. Retrieved 20 February 2013 The government restricts public access to information about the owners and shareholders of Azerbaijani companies.
Background
In recent years, the government has increased its control over internet and harassment of internet activists and bloggers. Media freedom groups have expressed particular concern about the government's surveillance of journalists' internet and telephone communications.Freedom House, Azerbaijan 2015 Press Freedom report
The crackdown on journalists is accompanied by the intimidation and arrest of freedom of expression and human rights activists, such as Intigam Aliyev, Rasul Jafarov and Leyle Yunus who were arrested in 2014. Many of them had to leave the country out of concern for their safety. Assaults on journalists and activists are rarely prosecuted. This is not true for the proceedings issued against journalists that are object of political motivated criminal proceedings carried out in order to influence and hinder their work under pretexts. As a consequence of such an environment, self-censorship is widespread among Azerbaijani journalists.
The majority of print and broadcast media are controlled by the government and its allies. In some cases media outlets are controlled through nominal intermediaries. The lack of laws on transparency of media ownership makes it difficult to identify the true owners of media outlets. The few independent media outlets are struggling to survive. Most journalists work without contracts and social security, and receive irregular salaries.
Attacks and threats against journalists
Threats, physical attacks, harassment against journalists are common. Nearly 100 journalists were victims of physical assault in 2003. More than 50 were attacked covering violent clashes between the security forces and demonstrators after the 2003 presidential elections. The International Federation of Journalists recorded 15 attacks on journalists in 2013.
Two opposition journalists were attacked in July 2004. Aydin Guliyev, editor of the opposition daily Baki Khaber, was abducted and beaten by men that accused him of "not serving his country and Islam" and warned him to stop all journalistic work on 17 July 2004. Elmar Huseynov, editor-in-chief of the opposition weekly Monitor, was shot dead in 2005, but there has been no prosecution of his murderers. On the 10th anniversary of his assassination, the OSCE RFoM called for an end to impunity. In 2011 the journalists and writer Rafiq Tağı was murdered. Nobody was charged for the homicide. In November 2012 the journalists Farahim Ilgaroglu (Yeni Musafat), Etimad Budagov (Turan Information Agency), Amid Suleymanov (Media Forum) and Rasim Aliyev (IRFS) were beaten and arrested by police while covering an opposition rally in Baku, despite being clearly identifiable as members of the press.Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, The Protection of media freedom in Europe .Background report prepared by Mr William Horsley, special representative for media freedom of the Association of European Journalists On 25 April 2014 the Yeni Musafat reporter Farahim Ilgaroglu was attacked outside his home in Baku. In August 2014, the independent journalist Ilgar Nasibov was beaten in his office in the Nakhchivan exclave. He lost vision from one eye. Rasim Aliyev, freelance reported and chairman of the media monitoring group Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS) was brutally beaten by multiple people in Baku on 8 August. He died the following days from injuries caused by the attack. The OSCE RFoM protested with the authorities and called upon them to reverse the rapidly deteriorating media freedom situation in Azerbaijan. In November 2015 journalists of ITV and ATV channels were attacked during a police raid against alleged Islamic radicals in the village of Nardaran, on the outskirts of Baku. The OSCE RFoM protested with the authorities. In January 2016 Gunay Ismayilova, a media lawyer and deputy chair of the Institute for Reporter's Freedom and Safety (IRFS) was physically attacked at the entrance of her home in Baku, without suffering serious injuries thanks to the intervention of neighbours. On 30 May 2024, Farid Mehralizada, an economist and journalist for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL)’s Azerbaijani Service, was unjustly detained outside a metro station by masked men. The Azerbaijani Government has charged Farid with "conspiracy to smuggle foreign currency" and “illegal entrepreneurship, money laundering, tax evasion, and document forgery.” If convicted, he could face up to 12 years in prison. On 24 October 2024, the European Parliament adopted a resolution denouncing human rights violations in Azerbaijan and calling for the release of Mehralizada and other political prisoners.
Other legislative measures - from hooliganism to the possession of drugs and weapons, treason, and tax evasion - are regularly used by authorities to punish and prevent critical reporting.
Unfair trials and imprisoned journalists
Journalists arrested in Azerbaijan (2023–2025): Aytaj Tapdig Aysel Umudova Nargiz Absalamova Khayala Aghayeva Ulviyya Ali Elnara Gasimova Aynur Elgunesh Ramin Deko Hafiz Babali Sevinj Vagifgizi Natig Javadli Shamshad Agha Nurlan Libre Farid Ismayilov Fatima Movlamli
Azerbaijani authorities have imprisoned several notable journalists. The Committee to Protect Journalists has stated the charges against many journalists are "fabricated" and "politicized". At the end of 2014, eight journalists remained behind bars. International instances such as the Human Rights Commissioner of the Council of Europe have consistently refuted the justifications by the Azerbaijani authorities that jailed journalists had been prosecuted and sentenced for common crimes. Prison conditions for journalists are reported as dire, with routine ill-treatment and denial of medical care. More than 10 journalists remain in jail in Azerbaijan by the end of 2015. They include: Seymur Hazi, a columnist for the newspaper Azadliq, on a charge of hooliganism;
The full list of cases of imprisoned journalists in the last years is the following:
In August 2011, authorities imprisoned Ramin Bayramov, the editor of the Islamic news website Islam-Azeri.az. His news website has previously criticized the government of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijani authorities first charged Bayramov with "activities hostile to the country" and "incitement to mass disorder." After failing to prove those charges, the authorities then charged him with drugs and weapons possession. The Azerbaijan Department of Homeland Security said it found arms and drugs in his garage, but Bayramov said those were planted there. In February 2012, police arrested Anar Bayramli, a journalist for Iranian television, on a charge of heroin possession. The charge was described by several human rights organizations as fabricated for political reasons. In November 2013 online activist Abdul Abilov was arrested on dubious charges of drugs trafficking. In April 2014, prominent human rights defenders Leyla Yunus, at the head of Institute for Peace and Democracy, and her husband Arif Yunus were detained by the authorities for allegedly spying for Armenia. Leyla Yunus has been sentenced to three months of pretrial detention, and her husband Arif has separately been jailed. The detention of the Yunus has raised big international outcry. Prominent international organizations such as Amnesty International, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, United States Mission to the OSCE, Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, Nobel Women's Initiative, Reporters Without Borders, Human Rights Watch and others have harshly condemned their detention as another step in the state crackdown on civil society in Azerbaijan and called for their immediate release. In August 2014 Seymur Hezi, critical reporter of Azadliq was arrested under charges of hooliganism. In August 2014 human rights defenders Intiqam Aliyev, head of Legal Education Society, and Rasul Jafarov, head of Human Rights Club, were arrested and the working of these two organizations were impeded.
According to Reporters Without Borders, President Ilham Aliyev launched “a new wave of fierce repression against the country’s last remaining journalists” in late 2023. Journalists from the independent Abzas Media, Toplum TV, and Meydan TV were prosecuted in 2024 and 2025 in trials that international human rights organizations described as unfair. Meydan TV's entire newsroom staff was detained in December 2024.
On 20 June 2025, seven journalists from Abzas Media and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) were sentenced to long prison sentences in Azerbaijan. Abzas Media's director Ulvi Hasanli, editor-in-chief Sevinj Vagifgizi and investigative reporter Hafiz Babali were sentenced to nine years in prison. Journalists Nargiz Absalamova and Elnara Gasimova were sentenced to eight years in prison, while the outlet's deputy director Mahammad Kekalov was sentenced to seven and a half years. Independent economist Farid Mehralizade, who gave interviews to Abzas Media, was sentenced to 9 years in prison.
Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia Director, said: "By pressing fabricated economic charges against journalists who exposed high-level corruption, the Azerbaijani authorities are sending a chilling message to anyone in the country who dares to challenge them. ... The political repression in Azerbaijan today is staggering, yet we lack a united, principled stand against it from the international community, in defence of human rights. In stark contrast, major actors like the European Union persist in actively courting President Ilham Aliyev in search of lucrative gas deals."
Refusal of access and arbitrary expulsions A number of foreign journalists have also been refused entry to Azerbaijan or have been expelled from the country for reporting unfavorably on domestic and foreign matters. In June 2011, Diana Markosian, a freelance photographer for Bloomberg Markets magazine who holds dual US-Russian citizenship, was denied entry by Azerbaijani border officials at Heydar Aliyev International Airport in Baku because she was Armenian."Citing ethnicity, Azerbaijan bars photojournalist." Committee to Protect Journalists. 7 July 2011. Retrieved 9 July 2011.