Police raids offices of independent watchdog that reported on irregularities surrounding the recent Azerbaijani election

Police raids offices of independent watchdog that reported on irregularities surrounding the recent Azerbaijani election
Intimidation, violence and media clampdown – free expression in Azerbaijan is under siege. The country’s record on free expression has undergone a marked deterioration in the run up to its presidential election.
In the run up to Azerbaijan’s presidential election, authorities have showed open hostility to journalists, activists, ordinary citizens and artists. Rasul Jafarov and Rebecca Vincent look at some of the country’s courageous photojournalists, who document what life’s really like under President Ilham Aliyev
Although its government has been working hard to promote a positive image of Azerbaijan abroad, at home, it continues to crack down on citizens’ ability to exercise their basic rights and fundamental freedoms, Rebecca Vincent writes
In the run-up to next week’s presidential elections, Index on Censorship travelled to Baku to meet journalists, human rights defenders, political activists, and citizens. Melody Patry reports
From America to Azerbaijan, leaders have pledged themselves to a new era of openness and transparency. So why are whistleblowers and journalists still punished, asks Mike Harris
Protesters face an extra three months in prison without trial. Padraig Reidy reports
The recent arrest of Ilkin Rustamzadeh highlights how Azerbaijan’s authorities use trumped up charges to silence messages they are not comfortable with, blogger Ali Novruzov writes from Baku.
The Index Award-winning Azerbaijani journalist Idrak Abbasov says he had been threatened by the family of a man who was arrested after an online posting, according to Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety.
Europe was once again be swept away by a sparkly hurricane of techno beats and pompous ballads, kitschy and/or traditional costumes, wind machines, pyrotechnics, heavily accented English, awkward host banter and nul points. Yes, Eurovision took our breath away in more ways than one, Milana Knezevic writes.