HRW Urges Azerbaijan Authorities to End Repression

The international human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) has expressed concern about recent instances of government critics living abroad being summoned for investigation and court trials in Azerbaijan. Human rights defenders believe these criminal cases are politically motivated and linked to their critical expressions. HRW called on the Azerbaijani authorities to stop repression against government critics both domestically and abroad.

In a piece published on the HRW website, it states that the Azerbaijani authorities are intensifying their campaign against independent and critical figures abroad by issuing arrest warrants and court summonses to exiled journalists, activists, and analysts on charges that appear to be politically motivated.

The publication notes that these steps are consistent with a long-standing strategy of suppressing dissent and restricting freedom of expression both inside and outside Azerbaijan.

Earlier in November, HRW reminds, the Prosecutor General's Office of Azerbaijan announced that the Binagadi District Court had issued absentee arrest warrants for several exiled figures accused under multiple articles of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan. These include journalists Sevinj Osmangyzy, Ganimaat Zahid, and Beydulla Manafon; blogger Abid Gafarov; historian Altay Goyushov; political analyst Arastun Orujlu; and Victor Alexander YouTube channel founder Vagif Allahverdiyev.

Osmangyzy, Gafarov, Orujlu, Allahverdiyev, and Goyushov are under investigation in absentia for "calls for mass disorder" (Article 220.2 of the Criminal Code) and "public calls against the state" (Article 281.2)—crimes that the authorities frequently use to criminalize the legitimate exercise of freedom of expression and assembly, the HRW material emphasizes. Manafon faces the same charge of "anti-state activity" under Article 281.2, as well as an additional charge under Article 283.1 for "incitement to national, racial, social, or religious hatred."

"The alleged factual basis for these criminal investigations remains unclear, though it is obvious that all those being pursued are vocal critics of human rights abuses in the Azerbaijani government and regularly voice their concerns online. These cases reflect the authorities' long-standing practice of abusing the criminal justice system to silence critics, which Human Rights Watch has documented in detail over many years," notes Giorgi Gogia, HRW's Associate Director for Europe and Central Asia.

HRW reminds that since November 2023, Azerbaijani authorities have been arresting journalists, political activists, human rights defenders, and scholars on trumped-up financial and other criminal charges, including illegal entrepreneurship, money laundering, tax evasion, and document forgery.

The latest wave of persecution of Azerbaijanis abroad follows numerous criminal investigations launched in March 2025 against several exiled bloggers. They were charged with crimes such as fraud, terrorism, incitement to disorder, disobedience to official orders, and attempted coup d'état. Since then, courts have issued numerous arrest warrants and passed in absentia convictions. Most recently, in September, a court sentenced French blogger Muhammad Mirzali in absentia to six and a half years in prison on multiple charges, including incitement to mass disorder, the HRW report underscores.

"The Azerbaijani authorities must immediately drop all politically motivated charges, cease the relentless persecution of independent voices at home and abroad, and fulfill their international obligations to respect freedom of expression and association," the HRW representative stated in conclusion.