15:59, 6 May 2026

The US Senate called for the release of journalists from Azerbaijan and Georgia.

The US Senate called for the release of journalists Sevinj Vagifgizi and Farid Mehralizade, imprisoned in Azerbaijan, along with other media representatives around the world who are persecuted for their professional activities. The resolution specifically mentions Georgian journalist Mzia Amaglobeli.

As reported by the Caucasian Knot, the international coalition of media organizations, One Free Press Coalition, on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day (May 3), published its annual "10 Most Urgent" list of imprisoned journalists around the world who need to be immediately released. Among them is Azerbaijani journalist and editor-in-chief of Abzas Media, Sevinj Vagifgizi, who has been in prison for three years.

In June 2025, a Baku court found employees of the online publication Abzas Media guilty of economic crimes. The publication's director, Ulvi Hasanli, editor-in-chief Sevinj Vagifgizi, investigative journalist Hafiz Babali, and economist Farid Mehralizade were sentenced to nine years in prison, Nargiz Absalamova and Elnara Gasimova to eight years, and Mohammed Kekalov to seven. On March 6, Mehralizade, and on March 13, Ulvi Hasanli, pleaded not guilty at cassation appeal hearings and demanded that the sentences be overturned. On April 3, the Supreme Court upheld the sentences of all those convicted in the case. International journalist organizations demanded the release of those convicted in the case.

The US Senate adopted a resolution on World Press Freedom Day, observed annually on May 3.

In a document published on the Senate website on May 5, US lawmakers stated that threats to media freedom are growing worldwide, citing the persecution and arrests of journalists, particularly in countries with authoritarian regimes.

Citing data from an international organization defending journalists, the resolution states that press freedom worldwide has fallen to a 25-year low, with more than half of countries classified as "difficult" or "very difficult" for journalists to work.

According to data cited in the document, by the end of 2025, more than 300 journalists were in prison worldwide. Among them are representatives of Azerbaijan and Georgia, including Abzas Media editor-in-chief Sevinj Vagifgizi and economic commentator Farid Mehralizade, as well as Mzia Amaglobeli.

In early August 2025, a court in Batumi sentenced Mzia Amaglobeli, founder of the Batumelebi and Netgazeti publications, to two years in prison for slapping Batumi Police Chief Irakli Dgebuadze. Amaglobeli's charges were reduced at the final stage of the trial; the original charge carried a sentence of four to seven years in prison. On the night of January 12, 2025, 10 people were detained in Batumi, including Mzia Amaglobeli. Amaglobeli was detained because she had pasted a poster on the wall calling for a general strike. When Amaglobeli was released, she found herself in a stampede where an incident occurred involving the city's police chief, Irakli Dgebuadze. According to a silent video published by Imedi TV, Amaglobeli, surrounded and held by police, said something to Dgebuadze, who responded and turned away. Amaglobeli sharply pulled him back and slapped him. After this, the journalist was detained again, according to the Caucasian Knot report "The Mzia Amaglobeli Case: Circumstances of the Arrest and the Campaign in Defense of the Journalist".

The Senate called for the immediate and unconditional release of all journalists convicted for their professional activities.

The resolution also calls on the US President and the Secretary of State to strengthen the protection of press freedom and investigations of attacks on journalists around the world.

"The inclusion of Sevinj Vagifgizi and Farid Mehralizade in the Senate resolution underscores the seriousness of the human rights situation in Azerbaijan and the persecution of journalists in the country for their professional work. Their names symbolize the cases of all Azerbaijani journalists. The Senate's assessments are essentially an order to the State Department to take the cases of the arrested journalists into account in the political dialogue with Azerbaijan. No matter how important energy and geopolitical interests are for the administration, human rights and press freedoms must remain a foreign policy priority for Washington. Of course, this doesn't mean that journalists will be released in Azerbaijan tomorrow. However, a firm opinion is gradually emerging in the international democratic community about the need to take measures to alleviate the human rights situation in Azerbaijan," an Azerbaijani media expert told a Caucasian Knot correspondent on condition of anonymity.

Azerbaijani authorities have not responded to the Senate resolution.

Translated automatically via Google translate from https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/423030