Date of Birth: 13 May 1982
Detained Since: 9 October 2017
Affiliation: No formal political affiliation; religiously affiliated individual who expressed anti-government views and was later 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)
• Illegal acquisition, transfer, sale, storage, transportation or carrying of firearms, ammunition, explosives or explosive devices by an organized group (Art. 228.3)
• 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 Firudin Zeynalov guilty and, after combining the new sentences with outstanding punishment from his previous conviction, sentenced him to a final term of 19 years’ imprisonment, with the first four years to be served in prison and the remainder in a special-regime penitentiary institution. The Baku Court of Appeal upheld the judgment on 15 April 2022, and the Supreme Court subsequently left the convictions and sentences unchanged.

Political Prisoner Status:

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

• (c) The 19-year sentence appears clearly disproportionate to the conduct individually and reliably established against him. Zeynalov was already imprisoned when Safarov carried out the July 2018 attack, yet he was held responsible for an extensive terrorist and anti-State conspiracy based on alleged earlier assistance and disputed evidence.
• (e) The proceedings were affected by serious fair-trial deficiencies, including restrictions on effective defence, rejected defence requests, major unresolved contradictions in the evidence and insufficient individualization of criminal responsibility within the broader alleged conspiracy.

Summary:

Firudin Zeynalov is an Azerbaijani citizen who had already been in custody since 9 October 2017, approximately nine months before Yunis Safarov shot the then head of the Ganja City Executive Authority, Elmar Valiyev, on 3 July 2018. Despite being imprisoned when the attack occurred, Zeynalov was incorporated into the alleged organized terrorist group and accused of responsibility for Safarov’s later actions based principally on alleged assistance provided in 2017.

The prosecution alleged that Zeynalov had helped Safarov after an earlier 2017 attack by transporting him to Baku, arranging accommodation, providing food, clothing or disguises, helping conceal him from the authorities and allegedly supplying him with an explosive device. Zeynalov pleaded not guilty, denied membership in any terrorist group and rejected responsibility for the subsequent attack on Valiyev.

A central evidentiary contradiction concerned Safarov’s own testimony. At trial, Safarov repudiated substantial parts of his preliminary statements, denied that the co-defendants had assisted his attack and specifically stated that he had first met Zeynalov in court. This directly contradicted the prosecution’s allegation that the two had extensively cooperated before Zeynalov’s imprisonment. Nevertheless, the court accepted the broader conspiracy theory.

The proceedings also raised serious defence-rights concerns. Zeynalov rejected his State-appointed lawyer, but the court refused to accept that rejection, while requests for audio and video recording were also denied. He protested the proceedings through a hunger strike and maintained that he had been included in the Ganja case because of an earlier Ramadan message in which he wished the Azerbaijani people a speedy “victory over the dictatorship regime.”

Zeynalov’s case is regarded as part of the broader pattern of politically instrumental prosecutions arising from the Ganja events. The principal concern is that a person already imprisoned before the July 2018 attack was attributed collective responsibility for Safarov’s later conduct despite Safarov’s contradictory testimony, disputed evidence and significant defence-rights concerns. Zeynalov remains listed as a political prisoner.

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