Azerbaijani Activists Face Punishment for Forming Political Prisoner Group

Afiaddin Mammadov and Samir Ashurov

Political activist Samir Ashurov recently received a formal warning, and labor rights activist Afiaddin Mammadov was put in solitary confinement (kars) at Penitentiary Institution No. 2.

Sources say these punishments happened because the activists helped start the Committee for the Protection of Political Prisoners.

Details About the Punishments and Group Formation

Samir Ashurov's wife, Nuranə Aşurova, said she learned from another inmate's family that the prison head, Vusal Aslanov, called in, threatened, and officially reprimanded Ashurov on November 26. She added that Mammadov was sent to kars after someone set him up.

These two, along with four other political prisoners at Penitentiary Institution No. 2—Hafiz Babalı, Fazil Qasımov, Laçın Vəliyev, and Mehman Əliyev—announced the Committee's creation on November 24.

The Committee aims to:

Defend against smear campaigns against political prisoners in local media.

Contact local and international groups to free political prisoners.

Background on the Activists and Their Sentences

Ashurov, Mammadov, and the other signers say the charges against them are fake and that they were arrested for political reasons because of their activism.

Afiaddin Mammadov: Head of the Workers' Table Confederation of Trade Unions. He was arrested on September 20, 2023, after being held for 30 days for protesting when the government took away couriers' scooters. Later, he was found guilty of hooliganism with a weapon and causing serious harm, and on January 14, 2024, he was sentenced to 8 years in prison. Mammadov's family said he sent a message from isolation claiming he was set up.

Samir Ashurov: A political activist. He was sent back from Germany on March 29, 2023, and arrested 20 days later. He was charged with hooliganism involving a weapon and causing severe harm based on hooligan motives. On December 18, 2023, he was sentenced to 6 years and 6 months in prison. Human rights groups consider him a political prisoner.

Charges and Sentences of Other Committee Members

The other four members of the Committee are serving long sentences based on charges they all deny:

Hafiz Babalı (Journalist): Sentenced to 9 years for smuggling and money laundering as part of the Abzas Media case.

Fazil Qasımov (Economist): Sentenced to 9 years for taking part in preparing, getting, and selling fake money and securities.

Laçın Vəliyev (Former Musavat Party Member): Sentenced to 7.5 years for illegally preparing, making, getting, keeping, moving, shipping, or selling large amounts of illegal drugs.

Mehman Əliyev (AXCP Member): Sentenced to 5 years for drug-related charges (making, getting, keeping, and moving drugs).