BUILDING BAKU: Modern Slavery in the Heart of Azerbaijan

Few authoritarian states have worked harder than Azerbaijan to leverage major international events to boost their image on the world stage. Human rights and democracy advocates have decried the strategy as a “sportswashing” of a regime where opposition parties are crushed, journalists are imprisoned, and oil wealth is controlled by a small clique of ruling elites. A new OCCRP investigation reveals the human cost of some of Azerbaijan’s projects — and the lengths the state has gone to protect its image whe