A court in Azerbaijan has found nine journalists and founders of a prominent independent news outlet guilty of financial crimes, sentencing them to years behind bars in a ruling that international media freedom organizations are calling a deliberate effort to crush dissent in the oil-rich nation along the Caspian Sea.
Alasgar Mammadli, the founder and director of Toplum online TV, received a 14-year prison sentence from the court, located in the capital city of Baku. Activists Akif Gurbanov and Ruslan Izzetli, who co-founded the outlet, were each handed 15-year terms. Other journalists and activists connected to Toplum TV were sentenced to between 12 and 14 years.
The defendants faced accusations of illegally obtaining and using funds from Western donors as part of what prosecutors described as an “organized criminal group.” All nine denied wrongdoing. Attorney Elchin Sadigov, who represented several of the accused, told The Associated Press that his clients plan to challenge the verdicts through an appeal.
“This is an unlawful and political motivated court ruling that is linked to their journalist activities,” Sadigov told the AP. “Not a single defense motion has been granted by the court.”
Human rights organizations say the government of President Ilham Aliyev has systematically cracked down on free speech, using restrictive laws to target journalists, activists, and independent politicians who speak out against those in power.
Toplum TV had been considered one of the final independent news outlets still operating in this southern Caucasus country of 10 million people. The outlet built its reputation on coverage of government corruption and social issues. In March 2024, authorities raided its offices and took several staff members into custody.
The European and International Federations of Journalists condemned what they described as “extremely harsh prison sentences” handed to the Toplum TV journalists and media figures. The organization stated that “the court’s verdict confirms the political nature of the trial and the authorities’ desire to intimidate and repress journalists who are simply doing their job.”
Anthony Bellanger, the general secretary of the International Federation of Journalists, called the ruling “pure and simple government repression and intimidation.”
The press freedom group Reporters Without Borders, known by its French acronym RSF, also spoke out against what it characterized as a sham trial, saying the case reflects a growing clampdown on independent media in Azerbaijan and calling for the immediate release of those convicted.
“This unjust decision highlights how the Azerbaijani justice system is being exploited,” RSF said in a statement. “It has been brought to heel by President Ilham Aliyev to silence the country’s last remaining independent media outlets.”
Aliyev has been in power since 2003, taking over from his father, Heydar, who had served as the country’s Communist Party chief and later as president for roughly a decade following Azerbaijan’s independence after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.
In 2024, the younger Aliyev secured another presidential term, winning 92% of the vote in an early election. His popularity had surged after Azerbaijani forces rapidly retook the Karabakh region from ethnic Armenian separatists who had held it for three decades. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe noted that the election was held in a restrictive atmosphere with no meaningful political competition.
