Journalist Idrak Abbasov was brutally attacked and beaten in Azerbaijan while filming illegal evictions. Police officers refused to provide him protections and he was denied emergency medical care. His brother and friends had to drive him to hospital and fight for his life. His other brother was also beaten and currently placed in Intense Care Unit.

Idrak Abbasov, a winner of 2012 UK Guardian Award for Journalism, is an Azerbaijani journalist whose investigative work has put his life in danger. Abbasov reports for newspaper Ayna-Zerkalo and the Institute for War & Peace Reporting, which aims to give voice to people on the frontline of conflict and crisis.

After Abbasov investigated the activities of a local oil company, the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) sent bulldozers to his family's home. SOCAR claimed ownership of the site as part of a project to develop local oil resources with Global Energy Azerbaijan Ltd. His parents and brother were hospitalised after being attacked by the company's security service during the incident. It is believed that bulldozers targeted the journalist's home because of his work monitoring human rights. Later that month, his parents were again attacked at their home.