EFJ adds its voice to the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights's call for the release of journalists and civil society activists imprisoned in Azerbaijan for their legitimate work.
The reelection of President Ilham Aliyev, who silences all dissent, is assured without much suspense on 7 February 2024. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns the wave of arrests of journalists that started on 20 November and calls on the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which is observing the election, to roundly condemn this frontal assault on the media.
Journalists who fled to Georgia from Azerbaijan to escape government harassment are finding it not to be the safe haven they hoped it would be. Even from their new home, many of them are being hassled by Azerbaijani state security organizations.