Reprisal for Whistle-blowing: Prison Threats Against Union Leader Afiaddin Mammadov

Afiaddin Mammadov

Afiaddin Mammadov, chair of the Workers’ Table Trade Unions Confederation, says he has been threatened with transfer to a higher-security prison and subjected to psychological pressure after publicly exposing dire sanitary conditions in Penitentiary Facility No. 2.

Mammadov—arrested on September 20, 2023, on charges including intentional infliction of serious bodily harm (Article 126.2.4), hooliganism with a weapon (Article 221.3), and illegal possession of weapons (Article 228.4)—was sentenced to eight years on January 14, 2025. A veteran labor-rights activist, he previously faced multiple administrative detentions for organizing protests and defending workers’ rights.

In a letter to his family published on May 30, Mammadov described “intolerable unsanitary conditions” at Penitentiary Facility No. 2—home to over 250 inmates served by only four sanitary units. “Mice roam freely in the kitchen, gnaw through food containers, and eat the food,” he wrote. According to a Confederation statement on June 6, the facility’s administration reacted by applying “psychological pressure” and threatened to transfer him to a closed-regime prison with stricter controls.

The administration of Facility No. 2 and the national Penitentiary Service have not responded to repeated requests for comment. In similar cases, penitentiary officials typically assert that all facilities comply with domestic law and international standards.

Zahid Oruj, chair of the Parliament’s Human Rights Committee, told Radio Azadliq that the Ministry of Justice is aware of such complaints and is working toward a resolution. He also highlighted chronic overcrowding—often 1.5 times above capacity—across the prison system, warning that portraying prisons as “sanatoriums” is equally misleading.

As the Confederation awaits an official reply, human-rights monitors will be watching closely for any further reprisals. The outcome will signal whether Azerbaijan’s penitentiary system can reconcile security protocols with inmates’ fundamental rights.