Imprisoned Journalists

Azerbaijan

Increasing legislative and administrative restrictions on journalists in Azerbaijan have put significant pressure on RFE/RL’s Azerbaijani Service, known locally as Radio Azadliq, and other independent media outlets.   

Radio Azadliq was banned from broadcasting on FM frequencies in 2009. The Service’s Baku bureau was raided and shut down in 2014. The Service’s website was subsequently blocked in 2017.   

In June 2024, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that Azerbaijan’s decision to block access to Radio Azadliq’s website in 2017 was unlawful.  

Former bureau chief Khadija Ismayilova was arrested and jailed for 18 months in 2014. In February 2020, the ECHR ruled that Ismayilova’s detention was intended to “silence and punish her for her work” and violated her rights.  

Two ECHR rulings in January 2019 and May 2020 also condemned the Azerbaijani authorities for failing to protect Ismayilova’s rights in the face of an intimidation campaign launched against her because of her journalism.  

In 2021, Azerbaijani law enforcement targeted at least five Radio Azadliq journalists with Pegasus spyware.  

Radio Azadliq freelancer Aytan Mammadova was physically attacked and threatened at knifepoint in 2022 for covering criminal investigations.   

Farid Mehralizada, an economist and journalist for Radio Azadliq, has been unjustly detained in Baku since May 30, 2024. 

Belarus

As part of the Lukashenka regime’s crackdown on independent media, the Belarusian Interior Ministry added RFE/RL’s Belarus Service, known locally as Radio Svaboda, to its registry of “extremist organizations” on December 23, 2021. Current Time, RFE/RL’s 24/7 Russian-language TV and digital network was added to the same registry on January 11, 2024. With this move, Belarusians who share Radio Svaboda or Current Time content can face up to six years in prison.  

Two RFE/RL journalists are currently imprisoned in Belarus: Ihar Losik and Andrey Kuznechyk. Ihar and Andrey have been recognized by Belarusian and international human rights organizations as political prisoners.

Russia

The Kremlin’s suppression of press freedom has intensified since the beginning of its full-scale war on Ukraine. Authorities blocked nine RFE/RL websites in February 2022 after RFE/RL refused to comply with demands to delete reporting about the war. In the following months, RFE/RL journalists in Russia were harassed, detained, and smeared as “foreign agents.”   

Authorities launched a forced bankruptcy case against RFE/RL for its refusal to pay multiple fines totaling more than $14 million levied under Russia’s so-called “foreign agent” law. As a result, RFE/RL was forced to close its Moscow bureau in March 2022 and was formally declared bankrupt a year later.  
 
RFE/RL journalists continue to be targeted by the Russian authorities.

In February 2024, RFE/RL was designated an “undesirable organization” by Russian authorities. Russian citizens face up to five years in prison for cooperating with “undesirable” organizations or aiding in their financing within Russia.   

Russia-Occupied Crimea

Russian authorities in occupied Crimea routinely prosecute and imprison journalists in retaliation for their reporting. Crimean journalists are often held in degrading conditions, and several have reported being tortured in detention.  

RFE/RL journalist Vladyslav Yesypenko has been imprisoned in Russia-occupied Crimea since March 2021. Ukrainian and international human rights organizations have recognized Vladyslav as a political prisoner.