Overview
- A Baku Serious Crimes Court on July 27, 2026 convicted nine people linked to Toplum TV of acting as an “organized criminal group” and handed prison terms up to 15 years.
- Prosecutors charged the defendants with financial crimes tied to Western donor funding, including illegal entrepreneurship, money laundering, tax evasion, and document forgery.
- The defendants denied the charges, their lawyers described the trial as unfair, and they said they will file appeals and seek to overturn the sentences.
- International media-rights groups including the Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders sharply condemned the verdicts and cited Azerbaijan’s falling press freedom ranking and rising numbers of jailed journalists.
- The case highlights a legal dispute over foreign grant rules in Azerbaijan where authorities say registrations were required and independent groups say approvals are blocked, a gap that rights lawyers and the European Court of Human Rights say should typically lead to fines rather than criminal penalties and that may deepen diplomatic and reputational costs for Baku.