A group of journalists and human rights defenders launched a hunger strike on 20 October in protest “against the government’s undeclared war on the free press”, since 9 November representatives of all the leading independent media in Azerbaijan are taking part.

“This hunger strike is drastic method of protest that shows how difficult the situation has become for Azerbiajan's independent media,” the press freedom organization said. “We are worried that the state of health of several of the hunger strikers, including Sakit Zahidov's brother Ganimat, the editor of the opposition daily Azadlig, who was adamant in his refusal when asked to stop by the Union of Journalists.”

Sakit Zahidov is a recent victim of the governments crackdown on press freedoms, a prominent independent journalist, he was sentenced on 4 October to three years in prison for “possession of drugs for personal consumption” ensuing a trail described as 'chaotic'. Zahidov has insisted that the police planted the heroin and that the charges are politically motivated. A court will hear his appeal on 1 December. Sakit joined in solidarity with the hunger strikers on 23 November.

Azerbaijan has a long-standing record of arbitrarily limiting critical expression and using a variety of measures to prevent or limit news critical of the government reaching the public. One of the worst cases of violence against journalists in Azerbaijan was the murder in March 2005 of Elmar Husseinov's, editor and founder of the weekly independent magazine, Monitor. There has not been an investigation into the killing of Husseinov despite widespread requests to do so. The hunger strikers say they are frightening for 'Elmar Husseinov's dream of liberty and democracy’. The hunger strikers have appealed for support from international organizations including the European Union, the Council of Europe and the OSCE.