Activists Call Baku Court's Sentencing Of Independent Journalists An 'Unmistakable Warning'

When Human Rights Watch's Georgi Gogia heard that several independent journalists were handed lengthy sentences this week by a court in the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, he didn't know what motivated the judge. But he does know the message.

"An unmistakable warning: anyone involved in independent journalism or civic activism risks losing a substantial part of their life in prison," Gogia, deputy director, of HRW's Europe and Central Asia Division, told RFE/RL on July 30.

Two days earlier, Toplum TV co-founder and director Alasgar Mammadli was sentenced to 14 years in prison, while Akif Gurbanov and Ruslan Izzetli, who were involved in the co-production of station programming, received 15-year prison sentences.

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Four others in the case were handed sentences of between 12 and 15 years in prison for what the Serious Crimes Court ruled was acting as an “organized criminal group” to commit multiple financial crimes connected to the receipt and use of Western donor funds.

All denied the charges, calling them politically motivated.

"The sentences also suggest that the government believes it can continue escalating the crackdown without paying a meaningful political price," Gogia said.

"Previous convictions, arrests, and international criticism have not led it to reverse course. By imposing terms of up to 15 years, the authorities are raising the cost of independent work not only for those convicted, but for everyone who might consider continuing it."

It's a cost journalists are paying more and more, activists say, in the Caucasus nation.

Since taking power shortly before the death of his predecessor and father, Heydar Aliyev, in 2003, President Ilham Aliyev has faced accusations of suppressing dissent by detaining journalists, opposition figures, and civil society activists.

This trend appears to have accelerated recently, with dozens of journalists and human rights defenders arrested on similar charges that international institutions regard as politically motivated.

Yet Azerbaijani authorities consistently deny these characterizations. In the case of Mammadli and the others in the case, the government insists their arrests stem from specific criminal acts, not political reprisal.

Rights groups reject that explanation and say the convictions are part of a broader campaign to silence independent media.

“The shockingly heavy sentences meted out to nine individuals linked to Toplum TV are a textbook example of how an absence of international accountability emboldens autocrats like Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev,” said Fiona O’Brien, the Committee for the Protection of Journalist's Europe and Central Asia regional director.

“European states in particular must wake up to the fact that their increasingly warm ties with Aliyev’s regime – and their failure to hold it to international human rights standards -- not only have devastating consequences inside Azerbaijan but also undermine their claims to stand for media freedom.”

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The same court last year upheld the nine-year prison sentence handed to journalist and economist Farid Mehralizada on charges he says are tied directly to his critical reporting for RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service, known locally as Azadliq Radiosu.

Mehralizada's economic analyses frequently criticized Azerbaijan's reliance on oil and gas and questioned official unemployment and poverty statistics.

"The chilling effect will be profound," Gogia said of the Toplum sentences.

"It is difficult to predict how this will affect individual release decisions. The Azerbaijani authorities have occasionally released people following sustained international pressure or for political reasons. But these verdicts provide no evidence of an imminent broader opening. On the contrary, they suggest that, without stronger and more coordinated international pressure -- and tangible consequences for continued repression -- the authorities are likely to continue using imprisonment to eliminate independent journalism."