IHR

Social media companies in Azerbaijan face heavy fines if they fail to block children under the age of 16 from creating accounts, under a draft law. Parliamentary committees in Baku discussed the proposals on Monday, following a presidential decree earlier this year to protect children online. Under the draft legislation, tech companies that violate the age restriction rules could be fined up to 40,000 manats (£18,500; $23,500). Officials who fail to enforce the rules face fines of up to 9,000...

Zabil Gahramanov The criminal investigation into prominent Azerbaijani defence lawyer Zabil Gahramanov has concluded, with prosecutors sending his case to court on fraud and hooliganism charges. Mr Gahramanov, who has been held in pre-trial detention since October 2025, now faces four criminal charges, including abusing his office to commit fraud and resisting authority. The case, which was initially opened by police in the western city of Ganja, was later transferred to the Ministry of...

Afgan Sadygov An Azerbaijani court has ordered the pre-trial detention of independent journalist Afgan Sadygov after reopening an extortion case that prosecutors had previously closed in April. The Binagadi District Court in Baku ruled that Mr Sadygov, the editor-in-chief of the online news outlet Azel TV, must be held in custody until 30 July. His lawyer, Nemat Karimli, said the decision followed a successful appeal by alleged victims to overturn a previous ruling by the Prosecutor General's...