The Committee to Protect Journalists called on the Azerbaijani government to release over a dozen jailed journalists and reform the country’s deeply restrictive media laws in a letter signed by 25 organizations ahead of the United Nations Climate Conference on November 11-22, 2024, in Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijani authorities have charged 13 journalists over the past year for alleged violations of funding rules in an extensive crackdown on independent media outlets and civil society, amid declining relations between Azerbaijan and the West.
CPJ and partners also urged member states of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the conference’s organizing body, to ensure all journalists can freely participate and cover conference developments without obstruction.
Read the full statement here.
Editor’s note: The first paragraph was updated to correct a typo and clarify the location of the climate conference.