Date of Birth: 17 May 1986
Detained Since: 15 July 2018
Affiliation: No formal political affiliation; furniture craftsman from Ganja; prosecuted in connection with the 2018 Ganja case involving Yunis Safarov.

Charges:

• Attempted aggravated murder (Arts. 29, 120.2.1, 120.2.3, 120.2.4, 120.2.7 and 120.2.11)
• Terrorism committed by an organized group, with weapons and on grounds of religious hostility, radicalism or fanaticism (Arts. 214.2.1, 214.2.3 and 214.2.6)
• Preparation for an attack on the life of a State or public figure (Arts. 28 and 277)
• Attack on the life of a State or public figure (Art. 277)
• Forcible alteration of the constitutional order or seizure of State power on grounds of religious hostility, radicalism or fanaticism (Art. 278.2)

Conviction and Sentence:

On 16 August 2021, the Baku Assize Court found Jeyhun Gurbanov guilty on all counts and sentenced him to a final term of 18 years’ imprisonment. The Baku Court of Appeal upheld the judgment on 15 April 2022, and the Supreme Court subsequently left the conviction and sentence unchanged.

Political Prisoner Status:

His imprisonment meets criteria (c) and (e) of PACE Resolution 1900 (2012):

• (c) The 18-year sentence appears clearly disproportionate to the conduct individually and reliably established against him. He was not shown to have directly participated in Safarov’s attack but was held responsible for an extensive terrorist and anti-State conspiracy based largely on association, communications and disputed evidence.
• (e) The proceedings were affected by serious fair-trial deficiencies, including disputed investigative statements, rejected defence motions, unresolved contradictions in the evidence and insufficient individualization of criminal responsibility, in the context of the authorities’ broader narrative of an organized Islamist and anti-State conspiracy.

Summary:

Jeyhun Gurbanov is an Azerbaijani citizen and furniture craftsman from Ganja who was detained on 15 July 2018 following Yunis Safarov’s attack on the then head of the Ganja City Executive Authority, Elmar Valiyev. Gurbanov was not alleged to have participated in the shooting, supplied the weapon or been present at the scene. Instead, the prosecution alleged that he maintained contact with Safarov and provided information concerning persons Safarov allegedly intended to attack.

Gurbanov pleaded not guilty. He acknowledged that Safarov was a distant relative with whom he had renewed contact in 2017 but denied the broader criminal allegations. The prosecution relied primarily on telephone contacts between the two men, messages found on Gurbanov’s phone, and Safarov’s pre-trial statements alleging that Gurbanov had provided the vehicle-registration number of a potential target. Telephone records established that the men communicated, but not the content of their conversations.

Serious concerns arose over whether this evidence established Gurbanov’s participation in the alleged terrorist and anti-State conspiracy. Safarov later told the court that he had not intended to carry out a coup or establish a Sharia-based State and had not discussed such a project with the co-defendants. Gurbanov also repudiated the more incriminating statements attributed to him during the investigation, saying that investigators had simply presented documents for him to sign. The defence repeatedly requested a face-to-face confrontation with Safarov, whose testimony was central to the case, but this was not granted.

The proceedings also raised concerns regarding Gurbanov’s epilepsy, which repeatedly worsened during detention and court hearings. Requests for treatment and house arrest were unsuccessful, and a judicial request for his transfer to a medical institution reportedly received no positive response.

Gurbanov’s case is regarded as part of the broader pattern of politically instrumental prosecutions arising from the 2018 Ganja events. His family relationship and communications with Safarov, together with alleged assistance concerning a potential target, were extended into responsibility for a much broader terrorist and anti-State conspiracy without sufficiently individualized proof of shared criminal intent. Azerbaijani human-rights defenders continue to classify Jeyhun Gurbanov as a political prisoner.

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