Toplum TV was best known for its corruption investigations targeting ministries, officials and their families, as well as for covering the real state of the economy, censorship and social issues. In March 2024, police raided and sealed their office, then arrested nearly the entire staff. A law on mass media adopted two years earlier, which bans foreign funding, served as the basis for the charges. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe described the crackdown as a silencing of critical voices, while Reporters Without Borders called them victims of state persecution. In early 2025, Azerbaijan demanded that UN and Red Cross offices, as well as the BBC's Azerbaijani service, leave the country. Ilham Aliyev has not ruled out the country's withdrawal from the Council of Europe, stating that "Azerbaijani media cannot be funded from abroad even by one percent."
Azerbaijani Journalists from Toplum TV Sentenced to Up to 15 Years in Prison
