Charges:

• Attempted aggravated murder (Arts. 29, 120.2.1, 120.2.3, 120.2.4, 120.2.7, 120.2.10 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, including its secular character, or seizure of State power on grounds of religious hostility, radicalism or fanaticism (Art. 278.2)
• Participation in attacks carried out as part of an unlawful armed formation or armed group resulting in death or other grave consequences (Art. 279.3)
• Violent resistance against a representative of authority in connection with the performance of official duties (Art. 315.2)

Conviction and Sentence:

On 16 August 2021, more than three years after Aga Sarkhani’s death, the Baku Assize Court posthumously found him guilty of the alleged offences. Because he was deceased, no criminal punishment was imposed and the proceedings were terminated on that ground. His wife and legal successor, Sevinj Sarkhani, sought an acquittal and termination on exonerating grounds, but the Baku Court of Appeal rejected the appeals and left the first-instance result unchanged on 15 April 2022.

Political Prisoner Status:

Unlike the imprisoned defendants, Aga Sarkhani cannot technically be classified as a political prisoner under PACE Resolution 1900 (2012) because he was killed before trial and was no longer deprived of liberty when the judgment was delivered. However, the source concludes that his case should be regarded as a politically motivated process:

• Sarkhani’s membership in the Muslim Unity Movement, religious profile and alleged associations were incorporated into a broader State narrative portraying the Ganja attack as the product of an organized Islamist conspiracy seeking to commit terrorism, assassinate State officials and overthrow Azerbaijan’s secular constitutional order.
• He was killed before he could defend himself, while serious questions remained concerning the circumstances of the fatal operation, the reliability of the conspiracy allegations and the failure to provide independent and effective scrutiny of his death.

Summary:

Aga Sarkhani was an Azerbaijani citizen from Ganja and a member of the Muslim Unity Movement. He was not a public opposition politician or civic activist, but his religious affiliation was significant: his family described previous police attention connected to his religious observance. The prosecution accused him of assisting Yunis Safarov, searching for weapons and participating in an organized Islamist conspiracy. However, Safarov himself stated at trial that he did not know Sarkhani at all, directly contradicting the prosecution’s portrayal of Sarkhani as one of his close associates and organizers.

Another important contradiction concerned Sarkhani’s whereabouts during the attack. Official border records showed that he left Azerbaijan for Iran on 2 July 2018 and returned on 4 July, meaning that he was outside Azerbaijan when Safarov shot Elmar Valiyev and his bodyguard on 3 July. The prosecution therefore depended on allegations of prior planning and common criminal purpose rather than Sarkhani’s physical participation in the shooting.

Sarkhani was killed by police on 24 July 2018. Authorities alleged that he opened fire on officers during an attempted arrest and was killed when they returned fire. His family disputed the claim of armed resistance, while the defence’s request to question the officers who participated in the operation was rejected. His wife also reported that the authorities did not return his body for approximately seven months despite repeated requests. An international investigation identified his death among cases raising serious concerns regarding the adequacy and independence of investigations into lethal force during the Ganja crackdown.

Sarkhani’s case is regarded as part of the politically motivated Ganja proceedings, although his death means that he does not technically qualify as a current political prisoner under PACE Resolution 1900. The authorities continued the prosecution after his death and obtained a formal finding that he participated in the alleged terrorist and anti-State conspiracy, despite his inability to defend himself, Safarov’s denial that he even knew him, and unresolved questions surrounding the fatal police operation.