Since November 2023, Azerbaijan has jailed at least 30 journalists and media workers in an unprecedented crackdown on independent media. Nine of them are women — from Abzas Media, Meydan TV, and freelance journalism. They are charged with fabricated financial crimes for doing their jobs: exposing corruption in the highest levels of power.
For three of them the sentences are now final: on 3 April 2026 the Supreme Court dismissed the Abzas Media cassation appeals, exhausting every remedy inside Azerbaijan and leaving the European Court of Human Rights as the only court left to hear them. Six more are still on trial, facing up to 12 years — a trial that lost its entire panel of judges in June 2026 and began again in July. They report beatings, sexual violence, denial of medical care, and inhumane conditions in detention. Azerbaijan now ranks 171st of 180 countries on RSF's 2026 Press Freedom Index, down from 160th a year earlier.
What the government fears is exactly what we’re trying to protect: the truth.— Sevinj Vagifgizi, Abzas Media Editor-in-Chief, sentenced to 9 years
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Meet the Journalists →Explore
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Meet the nine women journalists imprisoned for independent reporting. Read their profiles and follow their cases.
Read their profiles →Timeline of events, detention statistics, prison conditions, and legal case details since November 2023.
See the timeline →Court statements, prison letters, and pre-arrest messages. Updates on their cases and the international coalition.
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Court statements, prison letters, and pre-arrest messages — archived and protected against erasure.
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Voices of Courage is an independent advocacy platform created to document and amplify the stories of nine Azerbaijani women journalists imprisoned for practicing independent journalism. Built by concerned citizens and press freedom advocates, on the belief that silence is complicity.
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