“I am following with concern the criminal proceedings against Anar Mammadli,” said Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Michael O’Flaherty, today. “Mr Mammadli was arrested exactly one year ago and remains in detention awaiting trial on charges of foreign currency smuggling, tax evasion, illegal entrepreneurship and forgery. I also note with concern that today there are dozens of human rights defenders, journalists and civil society activists who are imprisoned in Azerbaijan for their legitimate work or for expressing dissenting or critical opinions. I ask the Azerbaijani authorities to promptly release Anar Mammadli and all other human rights defenders, journalists and civil society activists imprisoned for their work and to drop the criminal charges against them, as well as any related restrictions, including a ban on travelling abroad.
In 2018 the European Court of Human Rights (the Court) held that Mr Mammadli’s arrest in 2013 on similar charges as those he is facing today violated the European Convention on Human Rights because there was no reasonable suspicion of his having committed a criminal offence and the actual purpose of his arrest was to silence and punish him. Today, most of the human rights defenders, journalists and civil society activists who are imprisoned are in pre-trial detention like him, but several have already been convicted to harsh sentences. This includes civil society activist Bakhtiyar Hajiyev who was sentenced to 10 years on 13 January 2025, Aziz Orujov, the director of Kanal 13, an independent media, who was handed a two-year prison sentence on 26 February 2025, and opposition activist and former journalist Tofig Yagublu who was jailed for nine years on 10 March 2025.
The case-law of the Court concerning similar instances that occurred almost ten years ago established a ‘troubling pattern of arbitrary arrests and detentions of government critics, civil society activists and human rights defenders through retaliatory prosecutions and misuse of criminal law in defiance of the rule of law.’ I already observed in my letter to the President of Azerbaijan in November 2024 that Azerbaijan as a Council of Europe member state should work towards creating a safe and enabling environment for human rights defenders, journalists and civil society activists based on dialogue and cooperation. I am concerned that a variety of restrictive legal provisions hamper the work of non-governmental organisations and independent media and interfere with the enjoyment of their freedoms. I note that the Court, the European Commission for Democracy through Law (the Venice Commission) and the UN Committee against Torture have found that Azerbaijan’s legislation is not in line with international standards regarding the regulation of civil society and media organisations.
I call on the Azerbaijani authorities to take the necessary steps to ensure that all laws and practices in connection with the freedoms of association, assembly and expression and the situation of human rights defenders, journalists and civil society activists in the country comply with relevant Council of Europe human rights standards, including by fully implementing the relevant judgments of the Court. I will continue to observe the situation closely and to raise these issues with the Azerbaijani authorities, including in the context of visits to the country.”