Azerbaijan Jails Scholars Over Politics

European Parliament Resolution – 18 Dec 2025
Topic: The unfair arrest and sentencing of Azerbaijani academics Bahruz Samadov and Igbal Abilov

• Background

  • Since early 2025, almost 400 people in Azerbaijan have been held as “political prisoners.”
  • These detainees include activists, journalists, opposition leaders, academics and human‑rights defenders.
  • Igbal Abilov (a Talysh researcher and editor) and Bahruz Samadov (a PhD student) were sentenced to 18 and 15 years in prison on charges of high treason.
  • Their trials were secret, used only contacts with Armenian scholars as evidence, and violated fair‑trial rules.
  • Their health has worsened while imprisoned.
  • Two other academics, Gubad Ibadoghlu and Fazil Gasimov, were also sentenced in a similar way.
  • On 1 Dec 2025, opposition leader Ali Karimli was arrested on alleged coup charges, showing Azerbaijan’s growing authoritarianism.

• The Parliament’s Position

  1. Strongly condemns the arrests, prosecutions and sentences of Samadov, Abilov and others on political grounds.
  2. Urges Azerbaijan to immediately release all political prisoners—especially Samadov, Abilov, and Ibadoghlu—and to guarantee fair trials and due process.
  3. Calls for the immediate release of Ali Karimli.
  4. Warns that national‑security laws are being used to silence free speech, peace advocacy, and criticism.
  5. Demands that Azerbaijan align its laws with international human‑rights standards, especially for free expression and academic freedom.
  6. Supports considering EU sanctions against officials responsible for these abuses.
  7. Asks the EU Delegation in Baku and the EU Human Rights Special Representative to monitor these cases and meet with the detained academics.
  8. Encourages the EU to keep supporting human rights and democracy in Azerbaijan, and to keep diplomatic ties tied to real progress on rule of law and human rights.
  9. States that any future partnership with Azerbaijan must depend on clear improvements in human rights, the release of political prisoners, and the removal of restrictive laws.

10. Instructs the Parliament’s President to send this resolution to EU bodies, Azerbaijan’s government, and other relevant parties.