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Persecuted by Azerbaijan, at home or abroad: journalists, activists

Right now

  1. Move archives and source contacts out of reach in advance.
  2. Avoid Georgia, even in transit.
  3. Ask a lawyer to urgently request an ECHR interim measure if you face removal.

Write to Access Now Digital Security Helpline Who helps (5)

Draft: not yet checked by a lawyerThe guides below are drafts: a lawyer has not reviewed them yet. This is not legal advice.

Draft What human rights defenders advise

Persecuted by Azerbaijan, at home or abroad
  • Independent journalists are tried on 'financial' charges such as currency smuggling and tax evasion. In July 2026 Toplum TV staff got 12 to 15 years. Rights groups advise moving archives and source contacts out of reach early.
  • Leaving does not guarantee safety: critics are convicted in absentia, put on Interpol wanted lists and their relatives are pressured.
  • In 2026 Georgia sent journalist Afgan Sadigov back to Baku despite an ECHR interim measure. Rights groups advise avoiding Georgia, even in transit.
  • If you face removal, a lawyer can urgently ask the ECHR for an interim measure (Rule 39). Journalists: CPJ and RSF (both 'undesirable' in Russia); defenders: Front Line Defenders; digital security: Access Now.

Designations of organisations in this guide: Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) (undesirable). Contacting them carries a risk: do not write from a phone that may be seized, and do not repost their materials.

current as of 26 September 2026. More: HRW: Azerbaijan rearrests journalist returned from Georgia; HRW: crackdown on activists in exile; CPJ: Toplum TV sentences

Who helps

5 organisations · contacts checked against the organisations' sites 26 September 2026

Front Line Defenders

Emergency support for human rights defenders at risk: protection grants, secure contact, publicity and advocacy after detention.

For people targeted for peaceful human rights work, including activists and journalists.

Other ways to reach them: protection grants

worldwide
Get in touch frontlinedefenders.org

Freedom Now

Works to free prisoners of conscience through the UN (Working Group on Arbitrary Detention) and international publicity.

Takes cases selectively; suited to relatives of political prisoners rather than emergencies.

Other ways to reach them: info@freedom-now.org

USA
Get in touch freedom-now.org

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