The landslide winner of the Eurovision Song Contest, Sweden’s Loreen, has thwarted Azerbaijan’s attempts to use the competition to whitewash its record on free speech
Azerbaijani fans of Sacha Baron Cohen are out of luck if they are interested in seeing his latest movie, The Dictator. In the film Baron Cohen plays corrupt dictator Admiral General Aladeen, a character inspired by the late eccentric Libyan...
Police in Azerbaijan crack down on a protest in Baku ahead of the Eurovision Song Contest.
As we approach tomorrow’s Eurovision song contest in Azerbaijan, Index CEO Kirsty Hughes asks if the event will shine a light on the country’s atrocious human rights record
READ MORE: Azerbaijan facing the music thanks to Eurovision
AND: Eurovision mired in deeper controversy by further clampdown on dissent in Baku
Song contest puts focus on human rights.
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The whereabouts of two Azerbaijani writers remains unknown, after they were allegedly kidnapped in Iran. Farid Huseyn and Shahriyar Hajizade were reportedly set upon by eight men in civilian dress as their bus arrived from Tehran into Tabriz, in...
As the world turns its attention to Azerbaijan for the Eurovision Song Contest, police crack down on dissent in Baku.
Index calls on Azerbaijan government to protect human rights
A 24-year-old Azerbaijani musician who says he was tortured by police after he insulted the country’s president during a concert has fled to Germany over concerns for his safety. Jamal Ali had criticised President Ilham Aliyev and his late mother...
As the Eurovision Song Contest hits our screens next week, Index calls on the expected 125 million viewers not to ignore the human rights abuses – against journalists, artists, activists – in Azerbaijan
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Vladimir Putin’s inauguration on 7 May was marked with mass protest actions, arrests and clashes with police, which have continued for the last two weeks and seem unlikely to stop. Since the inaguration ceremony, protesters have been holding an...