Corruptistan: Azerbaijan

Published: January 30, 2015

Oil-rich Azerbaijan has redefined itself over the past two decades from a struggling newly independent state to a major regional energy player. It has also used its resources to rebuild its army, which is seen as a government priority as the country grapples with the breakaway territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Despite its wealth and increased influence in the wider region, poverty and corruption continue to overshadow the country's development. A government crackdown on human rights advocates and journalists has raised concern that Azerbaijan's embryonic democracy is under threat.

The Mansion on the Heath

Ilham Aliyev’s family owns a 10,500-square-foot London mansion worth more than US$ 25 million. The house is on Hampstead...

The Speakers' Corner

Free speech is sometimes severely punished in Azerbaijan, a country where scores of journalists and activists are in jail...

Building on a Shaky Foundation

It is no secret that the family of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev likes to buy expensive buildings around the world,...

Azerbaijan Telecom

Taxpayers in Azerbaijan lost more than $600 million in a deal that made no sense for all involved except for a murky offshore deeply connected to President Ilham Aliyev.

A company close to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and his family likely walked off with more than US$ 1 billion in a takeover of his country’s stake in Azercell Telecom, the largest mobile operator in the country. The process was aided by a subsidiary of TeliaSonera, the Swedish-Finnish telecom giant, which acted against its own interest to allow the deal to happen.

The Khadija Project

Investigative reporter Khadija Ismayilova worked with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Azerbaijani service and with the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project covering the corruption of Azerbaijan's ruling family before she was arrested on Dec. 5, 2014 and sentenced to 7.5 years in prison on September 2015. She was set free after a successful appeal to Azerbaijan's Supreme Court on May 25, 2016, two days before her 40th birthday.

The Khadija Project was started by colleagues and friends of Khadija Ismayilova to finish the work she began before her imprisonment. Khadija made this request of us and not only did we fulfil it as her friends, we felt a moral obligation to do so as journalists. The Khadija Project will continue on behalf of other journalists behind bars in Azerbaijan.

About Khadija Ismayilova

Khadija Ismayilova hosted a popular program on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Azerbaijani service and worked as a senior...

About the Khadija Project

Khadija Ismayilova hosted a popular program on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Azerbaijani service and worked as a senior...

The Mansion on the Heath

Ilham Aliyev’s family owns a 10,500-square-foot London mansion worth more than US$ 25 million. The house is on Hampstead...

The Speakers' Corner

Free speech is sometimes severely punished in Azerbaijan, a country where scores of journalists and activists are in jail...

Building on a Shaky Foundation

It is no secret that the family of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev likes to buy expensive buildings around the world,...