Overview

• On June 20, a Baku court handed prison terms of between 7½ and nine years to seven journalists in the Abzas Media case
• Charges of currency smuggling, money laundering, tax evasion and document forgery were levied and journalists assert they are politically motivated allegations to punish reporting on high-level corruption
• Defense teams highlighted evidence of procedural irregularities, witness intimidation and reports of ill-treatment in custody during the trial
• International press freedom groups, including Amnesty International and the Committee to Protect Journalists, decried the verdict as a bid to muzzle independent media
• The case adds to concerns over President Ilham Aliyev’s crackdown on dissent, with at least 25 journalists now jailed and worries growing at COP29 about press freedom in the host country