(Berlin) – Azerbaijani authorities have arrested a researcher and political analyst, Bahruz Samadov, on spurious treason charges, in the government’s escalating crackdown against its critics, Human Rights Watch said today. A Ph.D. candidate at Prague’s Charles University, Samadov is the latest scholar targeted ahead of COP29, the global United Nations climate summit, to be hosted by Azerbaijan in November 2024.
In July, the authorities arrested another researcher, Igbal Abilov, also on spurious treason charges. The courts sent both men to four months of pretrial custody. If convicted, they face lengthy prison terms, or even a life sentence. Samadov’s and Abilov’s arrests are the latest in a staggering series of arrests targeting critical voices in the country.
“Azerbaijani authorities are on a relentless assault against dissenting voices, and the arrests of Samadov and Abilov are the latest illustrations of this crackdown,” said Giorgi Gogia, associate Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Azerbaijan’s hostility towards independent civic activism raises serious concerns about whether human rights defenders, academics, journalists, and other independent members of civil society will be able to participate meaningfully at COP29.”
Samadov, 29, is a regular contributor to numerous international and regional publications and media, often writing critical pieces about political developments in Azerbaijan. He was also an outspoken critic of the Second Karabakh War, fought in 2020, in which Azerbaijan reestablished control over Nagorno-Karabakh, and wrote about retaliation against anti-war advocates.
The authorities arrested Samadov on August 21, while he was visiting Baku during the summer break to spend time with his grandmother. Several state security service officers searched his house and confiscated two mobile devices, two laptops, university diplomas, Samadov’s identity card, and passport.
The authorities charged Samadov with treason and on August 23 a Baku court ordered his detention for four months of pretrial custody, which the Baku Court of Appeals upheld on August 27. The authorities claimed that Samadov communicated sensitive information to Armenian nationals on WhatsApp Messenger and acted on their orders.
During the custody hearing, Samadov adamantly denied the charges, stating that he had no sensitive information to disclose and that he had not acted on anyone’s orders. He also said that he is a “prisoner of peace,” as he is firmly against wars and people dying because of them. Samadov was among a handful of voices that dared to criticize the Azerbaijani authorities’ military operation in Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020. Samadov was among the signatories of a peace statement in early October 2020. He has been called a “traitor” and otherwise harassed online in retaliation for his activism.
On July 22, the authorities arrested Igbal Abilov, 34, a member of the Talysh minority ethnic group who studied ethnic minorities. He is one of the founders of the Talysh National Academy, established in 2010, and the editor-in-chief of its namesake publication.
Abilov, who lives in Belarus, was visiting Azerbaijan for his cousin’s wedding. His lawyer told Human Rights Watch that when he tried to return to Belarus at the end of June, border officials refused to allow him to leave the country and told him he was under a travel ban. A few weeks later, police arrested Abilov in his village and a Baku court sent him to pretrial custody pending investigation into charges of treason, sedition based on orders of foreign actors, and inciting national, racial, social, or religious hatred and enmity. A pro-government media outlet accused him of acting on behalf of Armenia’s national security services.
The authorities have imposed a ban on any communication with his family, including visits. His lawyer told Human Rights Watch that they have appealed the ban to a court and are awaiting a response.
On August 27, another well-known Azerbaijani researcher, Cavidan Aghayev (Cavid Aga), was in the Baku airport on his way to Lithuania to pursue his studies there, when his friends and family lost contact with him. Hours later, Aghayev posted on social media that the authorities had prevented him from leaving the country and were holding him for questioning as a witness in the ongoing investigation against Samadov. Aghayev remains in Azerbaijan.
In the year leading up to COP29, the authorities have arrested over 30 independent journalists, civil society activists, and academics on a variety of bogus criminal charges, including smuggling money into the country, illegal entrepreneurship, money laundering, and tax evasion. Among those arrested is a veteran human rights defender, Anar Mammadli, who in the weeks before his arrest co-founded an independent climate justice organization, and who is currently in pretrial detention.
Another is a prominent economist and professor, Gubad Ibadoghlu, who specializes in revenue transparency and anti-corruption in the oil and gas sectors, was arrested in July 2023 and spent nine months in pretrial custody before being transferred to house arrest.
Meaningful civil society participation and open debate, free of fear of retaliation, are important to hold governments to account and ensure ambitious and rights-respecting climate outcomes at COP29, Human Rights Watch said.
“Azerbaijan should release those unjustly imprisoned and end the crackdown,” Gogia said. “They should guarantee that activists, human rights defenders, and journalists will be able to participate meaningfully before, during, and after the COP29 conference.”
