The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) unanimously ruled on June 13 that a decision by the government of Azerbaijan to block access to RFE/RL’s Azerbaijani Service was a violation of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.
RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service, known locally as Azadliq, was blocked in 2017 after a ruling by a Baku court, which alleged the website had posted content that “promoted violence and religious extremism and called for, among other things, mass riots.”
Four other media outlets -- anaxeber.az, 24Saat.org, az24saat.org, and xural.com -- had joined RFE/RL’s case against Azerbaijan.
The four outlets were accused of publishing “false, misleading, and libelous information.”
RFE/RL and other plaintiffs insisted in their lawsuit that the decision for the wholesale blocking of their websites was “extreme.”
They argued that the main reason they were banned was because of their criticism of the government and reporting on corruption.
SEE ALSO: Relative Wealth: Banks Controlled By Azerbaijani First Family Soar To DominanceRFE/RL President and CEO Stephen Capus welcomed the ruling.
“While the website has been blocked since 2017, Baku’s crackdown against RFE/RL’s independent journalism is a longstanding problem. In 2009, the government banned broadcasting on FM frequencies and, in 2014, they raided our bureau and shut it down,” Capus said.
Azadliq has continued its investigative reporting on public corruption, political prisoners, and electoral fraud using circumvention tools, he said.
“The people of Azerbaijan, like people everywhere, deserve access to independent information free from government propaganda,” he added, vowing to continue to press Baku to allow RFE/RL to operate freely in Azerbaijan.
The move to block RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service came after it published investigative reports about financial activities linked to members of President Ilham Aliyev's family and his inner circle.
The reports were produced by RFE/RL in cooperation with the Sarajevo-based Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP).
RFE/RL condemned the ruling in 2017, accusing the government of “another blatant attempt" to "silence our reporting in Azerbaijan.”
In its ruling, the ECHR said the government of Azerbaijan needs to pay each applicant a total of 6,000 euros ($6,500) for damages and other expenses.
Aliyev has ruled the oil-producing former Soviet republic since shortly before the death of his long-ruling father, Heydar Aliyev, in 2003.
He has shrugged off frequent criticism from rights groups and Western governments that say he has jailed critics on false pretenses and abused power to crush dissent.