The Struggle of Tofiq Yaqublu: A Family's Plea for Justice

Tofiq Yaqublu

Tofiq Yaqublu, an opposition politician who is currently in jail, is in a very serious health situation because he is still on a tough hunger strike at the Baku Investigative Detention Center. His family and lawyers have recently shared disturbing accounts, describing him as a man whose body is failing him in prison. His daughter, Nigar Hazi, mentioned that her father recently passed out and is experiencing intense dizziness, which is happening because he has been refusing food for a long time.

His lawyer, Nemat Kerimli, stated that Tofiq Yaqublu, a long-time member of the National Council and the Musavat Party, has lost a lot of weight and is extremely tired. He finds it hard to walk now, and his skin color has become much darker since they last met. On top of his physical problems, his family says he is also facing psychological pressure and minor harassment inside the facility. For example, the authorities took away his wristwatch at one point. Since the hunger strike has badly affected his eyesight and strength, he has to make a great effort to move across his cell just to see the time on a television screen—an experience his daughter calls an incredibly cruel type of psychological torment.

Yaqublu's current situation with the law started when he was arrested in December 2023, which resulted in a nine-year jail term for alleged fraud and faking documents. Both the politician and those who support him have always insisted that these accusations are simply made up for political reasons. To protest his first sentence and then being put in solitary confinement, Yaqublu started a hunger strike that went on for forty days at one point, and then another one for twenty-six days, stopping only when his family and international groups asked him to.

The legal proceedings have given his family very little hope. On April 2, the Supreme Court confirmed his nine-year sentence, a ruling Nigar Hazi called a specific act of political retaliation. Even though all his court cases are finished, Yaqublu is still in a pre-trial detention center instead of being moved to a regular prison; his family believes this delay is being used to limit their visits. For several weeks, they haven't been allowed "open meetings," meaning they can only talk to him through a glass wall.

Yaqublu has consistently shown resistance during all his court appearances. In a Supreme Court session, he confronted the judges, saying that if the system had even a tiny bit of fairness, he would be proven innocent and the charges would be dropped. His legal team is now getting ready to bring the case to the European Court of Human Rights because they have tried every legal option available within Azerbaijan.

International human rights groups still consider Tofiq Yaqublu a political prisoner, pointing to his long record of administrative detentions, physical mistreatment, and legal bullying, all seemingly meant to stop him from criticizing the government. Even though Azerbaijani officials say he was found guilty of particular crimes, his family's ongoing difficulties underscore the bigger issues surrounding human rights and how political opposition is handled in the nation.