Azerbaijan critic Dayanat Chalabiyev denies stabbing charge in court

Dayanat Chalabiyev

An Azerbaijani schoolteacher and government critic has pleaded not guilty to stabbing charges at the start of his trial in Baku, claiming the prosecution is a politically motivated fabrication.

Dayanat Chalabiyev, aged 45, has been held in pre-trial detention for six months following his arrest in December last year.

He faces charges of intentionally causing serious harm to health with hooliganism intent, which carries a potential sentence of six to 11 years in prison. The prosecution alleges he stabbed a man, Mirsahib Khudaverdizadeh, in late December 2025.

Appearing before the Baku Grave Crimes Court on Monday, Mr Chalabiyev categorically denied the allegations, telling the court that the incident never took place.

This is an organised setup prepared against me in advance," he told the panel of judges, presided over by Judge Mahira Karimova. "Sending such a framed case to court is not only a setup against me, but also a disrespect to you as judges."

The trial is scheduled to resume on 25 June 2026, when witness testimonies are expected to begin.

An English language teacher, Mr Chalabiyev is well-known online for his outspoken criticism of the Azerbaijani government.

He was arrested on 22 December 2025, just one day after posting a Facebook status critical of President Ilham Aliyev.

In the post, he wrote that the family-led model of governance in Azerbaijan "did not strengthen the country, it weakened it," adding that "the state was privatised, the people sidelined, and the future mortgaged."

It was not his first encounter with the authorities. In May last year, he was sentenced to 30 days of administrative detention on charges of minor hooliganism and resisting police, which he also claimed was punishment for his online criticism.

Local human rights advocates say Mr Chalabiyev’s case fits a wider pattern in Azerbaijan, where several prominent political and civil society activists have recently been jailed on similar stabbing charges.

Those facing similar prosecutions include labour rights activist Afiyaddin Mammadov, opposition politician bodyguard Kanan Zeynalov, and former diplomat Emin Ibrahimov.

All have denied the accusations, claiming that their alleged victims staged the incidents by suddenly confronting them and falling to the ground.

According to a list compiled by local human rights organisations, there are currently 328 political prisoners in Azerbaijan.

The government in Baku has consistently rejected these reports, denying the existence of political prisoners and maintaining that all those detained have been prosecuted for legitimate criminal offences.