Georgian Dream rolled out new series of restrictions, extending scope of "grants" needing government approval, introducing jail sentences for grants-related offences, announcing bans on party membership, and criminalizing "external lobbying," among others:

"In Azerbaijan, research is a risky activity, and it is deemed high treason. This is what happened to Bahruz Samadov and Igbal Abilov.” Watch the European Parliament discussion on the human rights situation in Azerbaijan (started at 20:26): multimedia.europarl.europa.eu/en/webstream...

The European Parliament is to debate a new resolution on the human rights crisis in Azerbaijan this week 🇪🇺⚖️🇦🇿 @europarl.europa.eu should use it to adopt benchmarks aimed at fixing a roadmap for the Commission and EEAS’ engagement with Azerbaijan. ➡️ Learn more free-anar.site/the-european...

Peace Control: The Authoritarian Illusion of Stability in Azerbaijan ge.boell.org/en/2025/12/0...

A new report tracks and documents how the European Union is trading away its principles for energy and connectivity with Azerbaijan free-anar.site/wp-content/u... @endrepression-az.org

1/ According to a BBC investigation, a toxic compound used in World War I, “camite,” was used to disperse demonstrators at protests in Georgia in November–December 2024. It was mixed with the water used in the cannons.

Azerbaijan arrests main opposition leader Ali Karimli, his advisor Mammad Ibrahim and several other associates. This will effectively end any non-systemic opposition presence in the country, following total eradication of independent media & civic organizations. Towards full-fledged totalitarianism.

Azerbaijan isn’t just silencing critics at home — it’s reaching abroad. Exiled journalists, analysts & activists are being targeted with arrest warrants and trumped-up charges. www.hrw.org/news/2025/11... Baku should #StopTransnationalRepression, says @hrw

Azerbaijan’s presidential website has briefly published, then quietly removed, a detailed regulation outlining how the State Security Service would collect and access personal data on citizens and residents through a new centralised system. oc-media.org/azerbaijan-d...

Caucasus Barometer has always been the most reliable and freely accessible public opinion data source for the South Caucasus. Now, CRRC-Georgia needs our support to continue doing this critically important work. I encourage everyone to donate: gogetfunding.com/democracy-ne...

⭕ Georgia’s self-avowed liberals undermine themselves by justifying Israeli war crimes. - Opinion by Tazo Sozashvili. oc-media.org/opinion-geor...

NEW!!! Senator Shaheen Staff Hand-Delivers Letters to Detained Journalists and Lawyer in Azerbaijan

🅾️ Opinion: Azerbaijan should align its actions to its commitment to peace — free Bahruz Samadov now. oc-media.org/opinion-my-f...

at tomorrow’s US-Azerbaijan-Armenia summit in Washington DC: - the sides will announce agreement on “Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity” (TRIPP) with American “commercial” involvement - Aliyev & Pashinyan will sign joint declaration detailing concrete pathway for final peace ⬇️

Even in prison, @ulviyyaali.bsky.social doesn't stop doing journalism. Here is her interview with Bahruz Samadov. medium.com/@cavidaga/ul...

Putin: “I’ve already said that Russians and Ukrainians are one people. In that sense, all of Ukraine is ours. … We have this old rule, that wherever a Russian steps foot — that’s our territory.” Whatever this is, it’s not a president preparing his people for compromise.

THREAD: The ongoing severe repression in Azerbaijan has slipped behind all the regional headlines, but it should not remain unnoticed. The Abzas Case marked a tipping point in the Aliyev government's determination to extinguish all independent media. oc-media.org/azerbaijan-h...

⭕ BREAKING: The Baku Court of Grave Crimes has handed out sentences of between 7-9 years in prison to the management and journalists of Abzas Media, one of the last independent Azerbaijan news sites operating in the country. oc-media.org/azerbaijan-h...

🛫 I've got a new research article out in Mobilities, as part of a special issue on the Caucasus (check it out!!) www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... Title : "Pax Logistica? Mapping the interplay between war, peace and infrastructure in Azerbaijan after the 2nd Karabakh war (2020–2023)"

“Quiet diplomacy” is the new name for allowing an authoritarian regime to humiliate you.

www.foreignaffairs.com/azerbaijan/p... Zaur's piece on Azerbaijan is excellent, authoritative, comprehensive and asks the hard questions about the country's future @zaurshiriyev.bsky.social

Key findings from the latest report from Georgian civil society organizations on the Georgia crackdowns in November-February: [Report in Georgian: cutt.ly/6rz3ADOy] - 77.7% of respondents reported experiencing violence and mistreatment by police. 🧵 1/9

Still having a hard time to digest @ulviyyaali.bsky.social's arrest. She is the latest victim of Azerbaijan's ongoing repressions - reminiscent of Stalin's. She is now suffering from injuries from torture she faced during detention. @washingtonpost.com story: www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...

Important article on young people's political memories, positions and intergenerational relations in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia: Young People, Politics and Society in the South Caucasus www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

A crowd of protesters chants “freedom!” as the names of political prisoners are read at a protest marking Europe Day, and the 163rd day of protest

Elon Musk is behind the deaths of the “world’s poorest children,” blasted rival billionaire Bill Gates today as he announced plans to wind down his foundation and spend $200 billion on philanthropic efforts by 2045.

Woke up to the news that activist and co-author Ahmad Mammadli has been arrested under false accusations by the regime in #Azerbaijan🇦🇿... Ironically, we had written this piece together for @ispionline.bsky.social on the regime's repression of democratic movements www.ispionline.it/en/publicati...

Today, researcher & @charlesuni.cuni.cz PhD candidate Bahruz Samadov is spending 30th birthday behind bars in Azerbaijan, where critical scholarly work is criminalized, labeled as treason. There shld be more academic voices demanding Bahruz's freedom. #FreeBahruz www.psapopulism.org/blog/news/fr...

- the average level of liberal democracy is back to 1985-level by population-weighted averages - 45 countries are in ongoing episodes of autocratization and 19 countries democratization - USA could become the fastest autocratizing country in contemporary history that does not involve a coup d’état

Hi @kajakallas.bsky.social, did you wonder why there was no journalist in the room asking slightly challenging questions? Small hint: they are all in prison.

The trial of @hbs-south-caucasus.bsky.social partner @smdov.bsky.social has begun in Baku. He never had access to any classified information, yet faces 20 years in prison on fabricated treason charges. "How can I pass on a state secret that I don't have?" www-meydan-tv.translate.goog/az/article/b...

Tofiq Yagublu started the hunger strike in response to what he called a politically motivated and unjust court ruling that sentenced him to nine years in prison on fraud and document forgery charges. Bne IntelliNews

You can read this recent and excellent piece on anti-war activists in Azerbaijan. This is an open source article. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Azerbaijan's veteran opposition politician Tofig Yagublu - who was jailed 8 times, spent over half of past decade in prison and has been there again since 2023 - started hunger strike in detention 10 days ago with one message: either freedom or death. Lawyers warn it won't last long before he dies.

brill.com/view/journal... [new article, paywalled] 'Exodus by Choice: Voluntariness in Ethnic Migration Sagas', by Ilkin Huseynli @ilkinmetdan.bsky.social

bakuresearchinstitute.org/en/speaking-... Why the imprisonment of young Azerbaijani scholar Bahruz Samadov matters for both academic freedom and peace - our op-ed for the Baku Research Institute.

“I am Imprisoned in Azerbaijan. My Crime? Journalism” nationalinterest.org/feature/i-am...

#Azerbaijan gov arrests two more NGO leaders, Mammad Mammadzada and Bashir Suleymanli, amid criminal investigation against USAID Baku office & German Marshall Fund. Dozens more activists were interrogated. This adds to increased government efforts to eliminate remaining Western organizations. THREAD

SCOOP! A bipartisan group of lawmakers in U.S. Congress is set to introduce a bill called “Azerbaijan Aircraft Engine Export Restrictions Act” which will prohibit the export of engine parts to Ilham Aliyev's plane until Dr. Gubad Ibadoghlu is released, sources tell me #FreeGubad

“Every period of history that saw repressions of scholars have remained in people’s memory as the dark past,” said pro-peace Azerbaijani academician Bahruz Samadov yesterday at his first sham trial over ridiculous treason charges. He declared starting a hunger strike. #freeBahruz

Today, imprisoned academic Bahruz Samadov announced in court that he has started a hunger strike. Journalist Ulviyya Ali said that the court declined his lawyer's motion to release him under house arrest. Background: oc-media.org/when-advocat...

Countries that suspended the BBC in their territory in the last five years: China (2021), Russia (2022), Niger (2024) and Azerbaijan (2025).

Azerbaijan orders suspension of BBC News Azerbaijani in Baku 'The BBC said in a statement on Thursday that it had made the "reluctant decision" to close its office in the country after receiving a verbal instruction from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.' www.bbc.com/news/article...

Apart from everything else, this pulls the rug out from under Rubio, who promised not 48 hours earlier that Kyiv would have a seat at the "real" negotiating table. How can anyone anyone negotiate with an administration that can't get its story straight? www.theguardian.com/world/2025/f...

"Free Afgan Sadygov", "Freedom to Mzia" (Amaglobeli). Both journalists are on a hunger strike in prison, Mzia for a month, Afgan for several months already in serious condition.

Russia’s fears over ex-Soviet nations laid bare in leaked paper https://www.ft.com/content/2bb87769-805a-4270-bab2-2382e0b84cec

“A key finding is that 52% of all autocratization episodes [since the year 1900] become U-Turns [toward democratization], which increases to 73% when focusing on the last 30 years. The vast majority of U-Turns (90%) lead to restored or even improved levels of democracy.”

A note to our readers, from Politico CEO Goli Sheikholeslami and Editor-in-Chief John Harris: