Azerbaijani activist Nijat Ibrahim faces transfer to closed prison

Nijat Ibrahim

Azerbaijani authorities are seeking to move jailed activist Nijat Ibrahim to a closed-security prison, his lawyer and family have said.

The head of Prison No. 10 has submitted a formal request to a court asking for Ibrahim's sentence to be upgraded to a closed prison regime for three years.

A hearing is scheduled to take place at the Narimanov District Court on 14 July.

Ibrahim's wife, Parvin Ibrahimova, told reporters that the move was a pretext to punish her husband, who has been held in a disciplinary isolation cell for more than a month.

"They claim Nijat grossly violated rules and started fights," Ibrahimova said. "Of course, these are all pretexts. They have sent other activists to closed prisons on various excuses before."

His lawyer, Zibeyda Sadigova, confirmed the submission had been sent to the court.

Azerbaijan's Penitentiary Service has not commented on the case, but has previously stated that the rights of all prisoners in the country are fully respected.

Ibrahim has been detained since 9 September 2024, when he was arrested at Baku airport while attempting to leave the country with his family.

He was subsequently sentenced to six and a half years in prison for allegedly stabbing a man, a charge he strongly denies.

Ibrahim maintains he did not attack anyone and was targeted by police after calling a state emergency hotline to threaten a self-harm protest outside the interior ministry over travel restrictions.

This is not his first imprisonment. In 2020, he was sentenced to 15 months on charges of spreading Covid-19 after attempting to hold a protest demanding the resignation of President Ilham Aliyev.

In recent years, several other political and civic activists in Azerbaijan have faced similar stabbing charges, which they and independent observers describe as politically motivated.

Human rights organisations estimate there are currently 328 political prisoners in Azerbaijan.

The government in Baku denies holding any political prisoners, maintaining that those detained have been prosecuted strictly for criminal offences.