Azerbaijan rehabilitation centre head freed after torture conviction

The head of an Azerbaijani drug rehabilitation centre accused of torturing patients has been released from custody after receiving a suspended prison sentence.

Jeyhun Salmanov, director of the Qurtulus (Salvation) Rehabilitation Centre in the town of Corat, near Sumqayit, was freed on 1 July after five months in detention.

Judge Farid Nasibov of the Sumqayit District Court handed Salmanov a suspended sentence of three years and three months. Two other employees, Elshad Maharramov and Natig Aliyev, also received suspended sentences of three and a half years and three years respectively.

The centre, which is registered as a private limited company, was accused of holding people against their will, beating them, and denying them contact with their families. The three men were arrested in January 2026 on charges of unlawful deprivation of liberty, torture, and causing deliberate minor bodily harm.

The defendants denied the charges, arguing their only goal was to help patients overcome drug and alcohol addiction. They maintained that all individuals were admitted either voluntarily or at the request of their families.

Prosecutor Emil Murguzov had called for Salmanov and Maharramov to be jailed for four years, and sought a sentence of three years and six months for Aliyev.

The investigation into the Qurtulus centre began in January 2026 after a journalist receiving treatment there left the facility, sparking public debate.

Speaking to local media before his arrest, Salmanov insisted the prosecution's investigation was part of a wider, long-running inquiry into private rehabilitation clinics in Azerbaijan.

"Rehabilitation is a new field in our country, which is why the prosecutor's office is conducting investigations across these centres," he said. He added that Qurtulus ranked "first in the world in terms of recovery rates".

Private rehabilitation clinics in Azerbaijan have faced intense scrutiny in recent years following several patient deaths.

On 12 June, a 41-year-old patient identified as A Ramazanov died at the Reself Lite Rehabilitation Centre in Goradil.

In 2024, another patient died shortly after being admitted to the Ughur Yolu (Way of Success) centre in Novkhani, while a third man died in hospital after being held for nearly two months at the New Life facility.

Management and staff at those centres have also faced criminal prosecution in connection with the deaths.