As international visitors gather in Baku, Azerbaijan, for Formula 1’s European Grand Prix on June 19, Freedom House issued the following statement:
“The government of Azerbaijan tries to use sporting events like the Formula 1 race to portray itself as a modern, benign authority even as it conducts a brutal crackdown on its citizens’ fundamental freedoms and muffles all dissent,” said Daniel Calingaert, executive vice president. “We urge the journalists and corporate sponsors arriving in Baku to look beyond the glossiness of the race by examining the government’s repressive policies, including the unjustified detention of more than 80 political activists, human rights defenders, and reporters.”
Azerbaijan is rated Not Free in Freedom in the World 2016, Not Free in Freedom of the Press 2016, Partly Free in Freedom on the Net 2015, and receives a democracy score of 6.86 on a scale of 1 to 7, with 7 as the worst possible score, in Nations in Transit 2016.. -0-
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In 2024, as a result of external cyberattacks, 16,804 cases of fraud were recorded, and over 22.4 million manat were stolen from citizens' bank cards, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan reported on Wednesday.
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The Ministry of Digital Development and Transport of Azerbaijan has effectively acknowledged that President Ilham Aliyev’s official aircraft, “Baku-1,” encountered external technical interference while flying to St. Petersburg for the informal summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) on December 25. The revelation comes amid growing scrutiny of the incident, including reports of a GPS signal loss over Russian airspace.
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In Yardimly region of Azerbaijan, 20 kg of drugs and psychotropic preparations were found and seized from drug couriers, the regional group of the Interior Ministry's press service reported.
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On 6 February, precipitation in the form of light rain is expected in Baku and Absheron in the first half of the day. Wind is north-west, gusty. At night + 3+5, +6+8 in the afternoon.
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