In 2024, Azerbaijan ranked among the top countries in the Council of Europe for the number of imprisoned journalists and media workers. This was stated in the annual "European Press Freedom" report published on March 5 by partner organizations of the Council of Europe's Platform for the Protection of Journalism and Safety of Journalists.

According to the report, as of December 31 last year, 159 journalists were imprisoned in Europe. Among them, 44 were in Belarus, 30 in Azerbaijan, 29 in Russia (28 of whom were in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories), 27 in Turkey, and one in Georgia.

The only journalist imprisoned in Georgia was Afghan Sadigov, who was detained at the request of Azerbaijani law enforcement agencies.

The report also addressed pressures and threats against journalists in Europe over the past year.

The Platform for Safety of Journalists recorded 266 cases of physical attacks, threats, arrests, impunity, and other restrictive measures against journalists in 2024.

According to the report, one of the factors affecting media freedom was the rise of illiberal and populist parties in several elections held last year across Council of Europe member states and the United States.

The Council of Europe also highlighted spyware as another serious threat to journalists' security and source confidentiality. The surveillance of journalists has become more widespread and increasingly difficult to detect, with cases recorded in three countries last year.

The report documented instances where journalists in exile were targeted through legal measures aimed at silencing them.

"Some governments abuse international legal instruments, such as Interpol’s 'red notices,' to target journalists in exile, which weakens press freedom on a global scale," the report stated.

The report’s authors criticized Azerbaijan’s "Law on Media" for continuing to suppress press freedom and called for a review of the legislation.

"This law undermines the role of journalists as public watchdogs and further erodes media independence," the report emphasized.

Azerbaijan was also mentioned in the report in connection with cases of impunity for murdered journalists. The platform’s registry includes two such cases related to Azerbaijan: the killings of journalists Elmar Huseynov and Rafiq Tagi.

Since the end of 2023, over 20 journalists in Azerbaijan, including entire teams from independent media outlets such as "Abzas Media," "Toplum TV," and "Meydan TV," have been arrested, and their editorial offices shut down.

Partner organizations of the Platform for the Safety of Journalists—including Reporters Without Borders, the Committee to Protect Journalists, the European and International Federations of Journalists, and others—have repeatedly called for an end to the crackdown and the release of imprisoned journalists in Azerbaijan.

While the Azerbaijani government claims that journalists were arrested on suspicion of specific criminal offenses, human rights organizations argue that independent media outlets critical of the government have been deliberately targeted for political reasons, calling the charges against journalists fabricated.

The Azerbaijani authorities have previously dismissed allegations of politically motivated prosecutions against journalists and activists as "fundamentally wrong and unacceptable."

The government consistently denies accusations of targeting freedom of speech and press, asserting that fundamental rights and freedoms, including media freedom, are "fully ensured" in the country.