Azerbaijan: Sentencing and arbitrary detention of prominent peace activist Bahruz Samadov

The Observatory has been informed of the sentencing and arbitrary detention of Mr Bahruz Samadov, a prominent peace activist, political scientist, researcher specialised on authoritarianism, freelance journalist and author. Bahruz Samadov is widely known for his principled advocacy for peace and his contributions to OC Media and U.S.-based Eurasianet, both online news platforms covering the North and South Caucasus regions, including Azerbaijan.

On 23 June 2025, the Baku Grave Crimes Court sentenced Bahruz Samadov to 15 years in prison on charges of treason. He was found guilty under Article 274 of Azerbaijan’s Criminal Code. The charges encompass allegations of « espionage, the distribution of state secrets to a foreign state, and rendering assistance to a foreign state or a foreign organisation to prepare for a hostile activity against Azerbaijan ». These charges are based solely on his research and advocacy for peace in the South Caucasus and critical analysis of the Azerbaijani government and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which constituted a legitimate exercise of his right to freedom of expression.

The trial was conducted behind closed doors, with only Samadov’s grandmother -Ms Zibeyda Osmanova, friends, and a limited number of activists permitted to attend the pronouncement of the verdict. The denial of public access to the proceedings constitutes a violation of the right to a fair trial and due process guarantees, as enshrined in Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) to which Azerbaijan is a state party, and Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) of which Azerbaijan has been a member since 25 January 2001. The right to a public hearing is a fundamental safeguard against judicial abuse.

On 20 June 2025, the prosecution had called for a 16-year prison term against Bahruz Samadov. Following this, Bahruz Samadov reportedly attempted suicide and was transferred to the hospital wing in the Baku Pretrial Detention Centre. Shortly after, he started a hunger strike. His human rights lawyer Zibeyda Sadigova reported that, unable to write his last words, during the trial, Bahruz Samadov verablly stated he was a peace activist and had committed no crime. Throughout the proceedings, Bahruz Samadov has consistently denied all charges, describing the accusations as fabricated and unsupported by any evidence.

On 21 August 2024, Bahruz Samadov was initially detained, during a visit to Baku from Prague, where he was a doctoral candidate at Charles University. After two days of incommunicado detention, authorities confirmed that he had been detained, with the Baku’s Sabail District Court that afternoon confirming that he was being charged with treason. During his pre-trial detention hearing, on 23 August, 2024, the Sabail District Court imposed a four-month pre-trial detention measure on the basis that he might attempt to flee.

Shortly before his arrest on 21 August, Bahruz Samadov published an article titled « Azerbaijan’s cooling relations with Turkey », which examines how the once “brotherly” alliance between Azerbaijan and Turkey has been strained by diverging positions on the current conflicts in the Middle East.

Bahruz Samadov has previously faced reprisals for his peaceful human rights activity. On 9 September 2020, when Azerbaijani armed forces attacked Nagorno-Karabakh, Bahruz Samadov was among the few young pacifist activists to protest against the war in Baku, which led to his detention alongside 12 other young pacifists activist in support of Tofig Yagublu, one of Azerbaijan’s most prominent opposition leaders and a symbol of peaceful resistance against government repression.

The Observatory notes that the arbitrary arrest, unfair trial and conviction of Bahruz Samadov, are all in connection with his peaceful human rights work as a researcher and thus amount to violations to freedom of expression, the right to fair trial and the right to be free from arbitrary arrest and inhuman treatment.

These violations form part of a broader crackdown and increasing repression on researchers and journalists in Azerbaijan. Authorities have escalated their repression of human rights defenders and journalists, resorting to arbitrary detention, trumped-up charges, and judicial harassment. Azerbaijani journalists and writers now face a climate of widespread repression. Charges of treason are being used to criminalise the expression of dissenting opinions. The intimidation of activists is intensifying, with arbitrary arrests and sentencing of those who advocate for peace, particularly in the context of Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict.

Other recent cases illustrate this trend. Rufat Safarov is arbitrarily detained since December 2024 supposedly in relation with a disputed related to the sale of land plot, while prominent human rights defenders and 2014 winner of the Vaclav Havel Award Anar Mammadli is detained since April 2024, after his organisation published its preliminary findings on the conduct of the presidential elections and right after the establishment of the Climate Justice Initiative, an organisation he created, was announced. In April 2025, Bashir Suleymani and Mammad Alpay, two prominent human rights defenders, were arbitrarily arrested over supposed contract with the German Marshall Fund (GMF). In May 2025, Igbal Abilov, a Talysh researcher and the editor-in-chief of the Talysh National Academy News magazine, was sentenced to 18 years in prison, also on charges of high treason. On 20 June 2025, the Baku Court of Grave Crimes sentenced seven journalists from the investigative independent media outlet Abzas Media - the director Ulvi Hasanli, editor-in-chief Sevinc Vagifgizi, investigative journalist Hafiz Babaly, reporters Nargiz Absalamova and Elnara Gasymova, translator Muhammad Kekalov, and economist and Radio Free Europe correspondent Farid Mehralizade, to between seven and a half and nine years in prison.

The Observatory strongly condemns the conviction and the continued arbitrary detention of Bahruz Samadov which appear aimed at punishing him for his legitimate human rights activities and the exercise of his rights to freedom of expression.

The Observatory calls on the Azerbaijan authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Bahruz Samadov and all other arbitrarily detained human rights defenders in the country, and to put an end to all forms of judicial harassment against them.

The Observatory also expresses its concern regarding Bahruz Samadov’s hunger strike and any other possible suicide attempts, which pose serious risks to his physical health and psychological well-being and life while in detention. It calls on the authorities to ensure that he has access to adequate medical and psychological care and to guarantee his fundamental rights are fully respected.