Azerbaijan has a new, harsher religion law and new penalties for producing, selling, circulating, importing and exporting religious literature without state permission, reports Felix Corley of Forum 18 When two Azeris crossed a remote border...
CATEGORY: Azerbaijan
Amnesty award for jailed Azeri journalist
Azerbaijani newspaper editor, Eynulla Fatullayev who was jailed after criticising his government has been given Amnesty International's award for journalism under threat. Read more here
Journalists’ Trade Union (JuHI)
The Journalists' Trade Union’s main goals are the protection of the social, economic and labour rights of people working in mass media and the development of the freedom of expression and press in Azerbaijan.
Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety (IRFS)
The Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS) is an organisation that monitors violence against journalists and violations of journalists' rights in Azerbaijan.
Freedom of Expression Awards 2009 shortlist announced
Index on Censorship today announces the shortlist for the 2009 Freedom of Expression Awards. The awards, presented in association with the Economist, the Guardian, Bindmans and the Robert Gavron Trust, honour those who have furthered the cause of...
Satirist beaten in jail
Azerbaijani satirist and government critic Sakit Zakhidov, known by his pen name, Mirza Sakit, was brutally beaten in jail on 18 October, local media activists have told Index on Censorship. Sakit was jailed in June 2008 for allegedly carrying...

Azerbaijan goes to polls with weakened media
President Aliyev’s tight grip on the press has severely damaged his country’s democracy, writes Vugar Gojayev Freedom of expression in Azerbaijan has been an increasing source of concern during the last four years, with a sharp rise in violent...
Opposition journalist in Azerbaijan attacked
Journalist Agil Khalil of the opposition newspaper Azadlig had an attempt made on his life on 7 May, when someone tried to push him under an underground train. Later that day, two men grabbed him near the newspaper’s office. Khalil believes it was...
Azerbaijan: Journalist beaten
Agil Khalilov, a reporter for the Azerbaijani daily paper Azadlig, was beaten whilst filming an illegal land sale. The perpetrators of the attack --- allegedly including a local government representative and ministry official --- beat Khalilov...
Reporters sentenced to hard labour
A court in Baku, Azerbijan, has sentenced two journalists to hard labour following their conviction for libel. The charges related to articles they published in 2007 regarding alleged corruption in government circles. Avaz Zeynalli, the editor of...
The government of Azerbaijan has curtailed the ability of its citizens to express dissent, expose corruption or press for respect of human rights.