Two women sitting on the floor of a detention cell

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Imprisoned Azerbaijani Journalists Find Way to Report

More than 20 journalists and media workers have been jailed in Azerbaijan in what they call retaliation for their work. Some have continued to report from behind bars.

By RFE/RL’s Azerbaijani Service,
Mahir Sijamija, and Maja Zivanovic

March 15, 2025

Nearly two-dozen journalists are currently behind bars in Azerbaijan, the oil-rich, authoritarian state that dynastic President Ilham Aliyev has ruled for more than two decades. But that hasn’t stopped them from reporting.

“News can be uncovered anywhere. Especially when you’re in a detention center, where everything is kept secret,” says Elnara Gasimova, a journalist with the investigative site Abzas Media. Detained and without Internet access, journalists in Azerbaijan shared with RFE/RL their own stories of how they report while incarcerated.

Gasimova, 29, has been detained since January 2024 on several charges, including money smuggling and laundering. She and other imprisoned journalists deny the charges lodged against them in Azerbaijan, which global rights groups have accused of a massive crackdown on civil liberties and free expression.

Government Response

Azerbaijani authorities have targeted journalists from at least three other media outlets -- Toplum TV, Meydan TV and Kanal 13 -- while also detaining RFE/RL journalist Farid Mehralizada and recently revoking accreditations for the BBC, VOA, Bloomberg, and the Russian state news agency Sputnik.

Baku has dismissed criticism of its record on press freedoms. Aliyev said in April 2024 that Azerbaijan must protect its media landscape from what he called "foreign negative influence" and that "everyone must abide by the laws."

Facing what they call fabricated charges punishable by up to 12 years in prison, some of the detained Azerbaijani journalists have decided to continue their work from their jail cells. Gasimova said she couldn't stay silent and feign ignorance of what was happening around her. So far, she has published stories about the treatment of inmates, lack of medical care, and incidents of violence.

A police officer yelling at a woman seating at a cafeteria table of a detention center

In a written interview from jail, Gasimova told RFE/RL that shortly after she was brought to the detention center, someone told her: "You were a journalist on the outside, but not here."

"We've shown that journalists are journalists everywhere, and while we are detained, the lawlessness here -- human rights violations, illegal activities, corruption, violence, etc. -- will not remain hidden," she said.

In its latest report, the global rights watchdog Human Rights Watch (HRW) criticized what it called a wide "pattern of torture and ill-treatment of detainees" in Azerbaijan. As evidence for its claims, HRW cited reporting by Ulvi Hasanli, the jailed director of Abzas Media who documented at least 58 cases of alleged torture or ill treatment in the detention center where he is being held.

A prison yard seen through a barred window

"To prepare news in the detention center, the most important thing is to observe carefully and keep our eyes and ears open," Gasimova said, adding that reading up on the law is also helpful. By comparing laws with prison realities, it became easy for journalists to spot violations and turn them into stories, she said. But it's not an easy job.

A female inmate on the phone while a guard watches

"Our phone calls are monitored live, and whenever we try to share information about the detention center over the phone, the calls are immediately cut off," Gasimova said. She declined to reveal how they relay stories to the outside world.

A female inmate receiving a visit from her family

Gasimova said relatives are still not allowed to bring notebooks or pens into the visiting room. "They're confiscated," she said.

A plane on the tarmac with armed guards arresting a passenger and escorting him away from the plane

Her editor-in-chief, Sevinj Vagifgizi, was arrested by police at the Baku Airport upon her return from Istanbul in November 2023 -- a move the editor had fully expected.

A female journalist in a detention cell, sitting on the floor and writing in a notebook

Vagifgizi had previously been detained several times, and the European Court of Human Rights has ruled that the five-year travel ban Azerbaijani authorities handed her in in 2015 was illegal. Vagifgizi, 35, also decided to report from jail. "Although our reports increase the pressure and surveillance on us, they also lead to positive changes for other detainees," she wrote in a letter to RFE/RL.

Two female corrections officers shouting at a each other

As a result of Abzas Media reporting, staff at the detention facility refrain from abusive behavior because they know it will be exposed, Vagifgizi said.

Vagifgizi said that after journalists wrote about the misappropriation of items meant for detainees, hygiene products and clothing that had not been distributed for more than a year were finally provided. The journalists said authorities are aware of their reporting from jail.

Two female detainees sitting on the floor of a detention cell with pens in their hands

"They try to stop us in various ways. But their methods won't deter us from doing what we believe is right," Gasimova said.

Reporting by

RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service and Maja Zivanovic

Art by

Mahir Sijamija

Produced by

Wojtek Grojec