The government of Azerbaijan continues to silence and intimidate civil society through aggravated charges and travel bans
In the arsenal of intimidation measures used by the government of Azerbaijan to silence critics of the regime and civil society representatives more broadly, there is no shortage of tools. While arrests and detentions on bogus charges and fabricated evidence dominated the crackdown measures to silence dissent, over the years, the Azerbaijani government expanded its intimidation tactics. Disproportionate use of physical violence, online harassment, the use of surveillance technology, and smear campaigns are just some of the other measures documented in the country, marred by human rights and freedom violations. Since November 2023, the civil society representatives targeted in what has been described as the worst crackdown to date are now also facing a wave of aggravated criminal charges, while those treated as witnesses in the ongoing investigations are faced with travel bans. Atop these, property seizure, financial restrictions, and asset freeze are widely used in cases of those behind bars and their family members. While freezing personal bank accounts has been commonly used in the past, seizing properties is also becoming a standard measure. The most recent example of the latter is political activist Bakhtiyar Hajiyev, who was sentenced to ten years behind bars in January 2025 and whose properties have been placed under judicial seizure. Free Voices Collective does not rule out similar measures imposed on the families of other political prisoners.
Toplum TV
On March 6, 2024, police searched the offices of Toplum TV, the Institute for Democratic Initiatives (IDI), and the III Republic Platform. Police also searched the homes of several employees. More than twenty people were detained. While most were released, the following journalists and civil society representatives were remanded to custody:
Toplum TV: Mushfig Jabbar (video editor), Alasgar Mammadli (founder)
Elmir Abbasov (social media manager) and Farid Ismayilov (journalist) were released later under police supervision.
IDI: Akif Gurbanov (director), Ali Zeynal (coordinator of IDI’s journalists’ program and mentor to young journalists), Ilkin Amrahov (office manager), Ramil Babayev (project coordinator).
III Republic: Ruslan Izzatli (co-founder)
As the investigation launched against Toplum TV, III Republic Platform, and the Institute for Democratic Initiatives (IDI) nears conclusion, six additional charges were leveled against the defendants in the case on January 17, 2025. In addition to smuggling (by an organized group), the prosecutor’s office raised the following six new charges against the group: illegal entrepreneurship, legalization (money laundering) of property obtained by criminal means (by an organized group, in large quantities), tax evasion, employing staff in the absence of labor contract, smuggling (by an organized group in prior collusion).
On the same day, police also arrested Toplum TV’s journalist, Farid Ismayilov, based on a submission from the investigative authority requesting pre-trial detention for the journalist. Ismayilov was detained but later released under police supervision in March 2024 due to a severe medical condition. Police also detained Ismayilov’s flatmate, Nihad Ibrahimkhalilov, who was released after questioning.
In addition to Toplum TV, in August 2024, the charges leveled against independent news and investigative journalism outlet Abzas Media were also aggravated. The six journalists (Ulvi Hasanli, Sevinc Vagifgizi, Mahammad Kekalov, Nargiz Absalamova, Elnara Gasimova, and Hafiz Babali) were arrested as part of what initially were smuggling charges (by an organized group), now faced illegal entrepreneurship, legalization (money laundering) of property obtained by criminal means (by an organized group, in large quantities), document forgery and the intentional use of forged documents, and tax evasion (by an organized group).
As a result of new charges, all journalists face up to twelve years in jail if found guilty.
Travel Bans
According to the documentation and monitoring by Free Voices Collective, 40 individual civil society representatives and their family members are on a travel ban list. This list does not include individuals who may be subject to a travel ban, as authorities do not notify them in advance. In most cases, individuals only discover the travel restrictions at border control. Among the 40 verified cases are journalists Ulviyya Ali and Khanim Mustafayeva, who were informed they were under a travel ban in January 2025.
In 2019, an assessment report published by the independent Election Monitoring and Democracy Studies (EMDS) center on the arbitrarily imposed travel bans argued that by imposing travel bans, the government of Azerbaijan violated its domestic legislation, including the state constitution as well as several international documents the country has signed up to. A European Court of Human Rights decision dated December 13, 2018, concluded that the government had violated the right to free movement in 11 cases the court reviewed at the time. Since the publication of that report, the number of political prisoners has nearly doubled in Azerbaijan. The same can be said about the travel ban list.
Under Article 28 para. 3 of the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan, individuals lawfully present in the country have the right to freedom of movement and to choose their residence and leave the country. Similarly, Article 9 of the Migration Code guarantees Azerbaijani citizens the right to exit and enter the country through official border checkpoints without unjustified restrictions.
However, the law defines specific cases where the right to leave the country may be temporarily restricted. These include:
- If a citizen is facing a criminal charge or a preventive measure, is under arrest or subject to legal measure until release or case resolution;
- If there is a court decision on the imposed travel ban,
- If a citizen is under conditional release or an early release/probation until their probation or obligations expire
- If a citizen is facing a deferred sentence,
- If a citizen is conscripted, facing debts and unpaid taxes, or does not have necessary vaccination requirements.
Additionally, various state institutions, including the Ministries of Internal Affairs, Justice, Defense, Economy, the State Border Service, and Security Services, are responsible for maintaining and updating border-crossing restrictions in the interdepartmental automated system “Entry-exit and registration.” (Criminal procedure bodies restrict international travel rights via the electronic government portal, in compliance with the “Entry-exit and registration” Interdepartmental automated information-search system statute and its operational rules)
The existing list of conditions for restricting travel does not mention placing travel restrictions on witnesses in criminal investigations.
It is worth noting that the director of EMDS, Anar Mammadli, is also currently in pre-trial detention. Mammadli was arrested in April 2024 on bogus smuggling charges.
Free Voices Collective calls on the authorities to drop the bogus charges and end the ongoing crackdown on civil society representatives in Azerbaijan. The human rights violations documented in Azerbaijan since November 2023 indicate that the government has no intention of changing how it treats the country’s independent civil society in the framework of international agreements and documents it has signed up to. Combined with the decades-long practice of intimidation tactics used to silence critics, the current environment attests to the government’s intent to eradicate all forms of dissent and accountability.
The authorities undermine press freedom and the public’s right to access accurate and independent information by targeting independent news outlets.
Free Voices Collective calls on the Azerbaijani government to uphold its international commitments and on the international community, human rights organizations, and press freedom advocates to stand in solidarity with scores of citizens whose voices have been unjustly silenced.