Arrested since December 5, 2014, female investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova was sentenced in September 2015 by an Azerbaijani court to 7,5  years in prison. The journalist, member of the OCCRP and known for her investigative work exposing state-level corruption in Azerbaijan, was first accused of incitement to suicide which have been replaced by new charges related to tax evasion, abuse of power and illegal business activities. The case is believed to be retaliation for exposing state corruption in her reports, which involved senior government officials including the presidential family. The RFE/RL contributor was also financially fined for legal expenses and barred from holding…

Rasim Aliyev (31), an Azerbaijani independent journalist who was attacked and beaten by supporters of a local soccer player in retaliation for criticism posted on a Facebook page, has died of his injuries in a Baku hospital on Sunday (August 9). The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) are deeply saddened by his death. “The climate of impunity for violent acts against journalists and human rights defenders in Azerbaijan may encourage some individuals to commit such grave crimes without being punished. Journalists, like every citizen, in Azerbaijan must be free to share their personal…

Update (13/06/2015): Emin Huseynov flew out of Azerbaijan on the plane of Switzerland’s top diplomat Didier Burkhalter, who attended the Euro Games ceremony in Baku late on Friday (12/06/2015). Emin Huseynov who had been sheltering for 10 months at the Swiss embassy in Baku, is now in Bern. Julian Assange’s Courage Foundation helped him escape Azerbaijan and fly to Switzerland.   Reportage broadcasted this week by the Swiss national television shows the case of Azeri journalist and human rights defender Emin Huseynov, secretly hidden in the Swiss Embassy in Baku (Azerbaijan) since last August due to a wave of repression…

According to a recent survey publish by the EFJ affiliate, the Journalists’ Trade Union of Azerbaijan (JuHI), the general working and social conditions for journalists have improved significantly with an average increase of 15% in their pay. However, the conditions for journalists working in regional media remains low as the increase is only for journalists working for national media. The survey has asked 100 journalists from 25 national newspapers, 5 news agencies, 5 news portals,  10 weekly newspapers (7 regional, 3 national), 5 TV Channels (3 regional and 2 national), about their pay conditions, contractual relationship, social and health insurance…