Azerbaijani police raided the offices of Toplum TV, an online news channel aired via YouTube, detaining dozens of its employees and reporters. The Third Republic movement, a political group, was also targeted in the operation. Government media confirmed the alleged funding of the Toplum TV by the West, especially accusing the United States.
According to authorities, several detainees have been charged with money laundering, while political activists in Azerbaijan are decrying the raids as yet another escalation of the government’s crackdown on independent media and political opposition. Arrests continue, and people linked to the TV and political group are being detained, with smuggling money charges leveled against some of them. The US Department of State spokesman expressed their concern over the raids and arrests.
Police justified the raids, stating that they acted upon tips of suspicious operations within the offices. Subsequently, Toplum TV’s YouTube channel was taken down, effectively silencing the independent outlet.
Remarkably, the crackdown comes just days after President Ilham Aliyev publicly criticized Western media for labeling Azerbaijan as a dictatorship, highlighting alleged political imprisonment and suppression of journalistic freedom in the country.
Speculation abounds regarding the potential motives behind the raids. Some observers suggest that influential factions within the government orchestrated the crackdown to undermine President Aliyev’s recent statements and eliminate one of the last remaining independent TV outlets in the country. Others point to ongoing geopolitical tensions, positing that Azerbaijani authorities may be seeking to appease Russian sensitivities in the context of the Ukrainian conflict, by targeting media outlets purportedly financed by Western funds, in a bid to curb perceived Western influence.
The raid on Toplum TV follows a pattern of government crackdowns on independent media, with another outlet, Abzas Media, also being targeted previously, resulting in the arrest of several of its journalists.
As the crackdown unfolds, concerns mount over the shrinking space for press freedom and political dissent in Azerbaijan, drawing international condemnation from human rights organizations and press freedom advocates.
