Sevinj Vagifgyzy was awarded the Anna Politkovskaya – Arman Solden International Journalism Prize.

Abzas Media Editor-in-Chief Sevinj Vagifgizi, who is serving a prison sentence in Azerbaijan, has been named the 2025 recipient of the Anna Politkovskaya-Arman Solden International Journalism Award for Journalistic Courage.

As reported by the Caucasian Knot, Abzas Media Editor-in-Chief Sevinj Vagifgizi was nominated in the fall for the Free Press Awards, presented by a respected international organization defending journalists. The award's organizing committee noted that Sevinj Vagifgizi "remains an unwavering voice for free media in Azerbaijan" as she continues to work in prison. The head of the publication accepted the award in the "Courage Prize" category on behalf of Vagifgizi.

The 2025 Anna Politkovskaya – Armand Solden Award for Journalistic Courage ceremony took place on January 14 at the prestigious French journalism school ESJ Lille in Lille. On behalf of the award winner, Vagifgizi, the award was accepted by Abzas Media Acting Director Gunel Safarova.

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"This is already the second award Sevinj has received for her courage. But this is not just 'another award'; it is recognition of the voices that are being silenced; it is an award for truth and media freedom. Sevinj has spent over two years in prison, unfairly and unjustly, for her journalistic work in Azerbaijan. She is not alone in facing this blatant injustice: approximately 30 journalists are languishing in Azerbaijan without cause. Sevinj's awards are awards to all journalists imprisoned for their professional work. I sincerely hope that Sevinj will accept the next journalism award herself, and that other imprisoned journalists will also be released," Safarova told a Caucasian Knot correspondent.

She read Vagifgyzy's address to the ceremony participants.

"Words are powerful, that's why they kill those who speak them. Nowhere in the world have people of other professions been killed for their profession. In other words, there are no cases where someone is killed for being a doctor or an engineer. But in this world, there are always statistics on journalist deaths: how many journalists are killed in a year simply for practicing their profession and becoming targets for their critical articles. Anna and Arman were among those journalists targeted by a government that seemed strong from the outside, but was forced to retreat before the power of words and feared the power of words," Vagifgizi's statement read.

At the end of September, Sevinj Vagifgizi, Nargiz Absalamova, and Elnara Gasimova were transferred to the penitentiary complex in the village of Gurumba in southern Azerbaijan, 250 kilometers from Baku. The journalists and their families consider their transfer to a remote prison colony a biased decision, and lawyers pointed out its illegality.

Journalists from other media outlets, including Meydan TV, Toplum TV, and Kanal-13, have also been persecuted in Azerbaijan. Details are compiled by the "Caucasian Knot" in its report "Serial Arrests of Journalists in Azerbaijan".

The number of political prisoners in Azerbaijan reached its highest point in 2024 since the country's 23-year membership in the Council of Europe, according to the "Caucasian Knot" report "Key Points to the Record Number of Political Prisoners in Azerbaijan". At the same time, the Azerbaijani authorities deny the existence of political prisoners in the country.