Restricted Rights of Political Prisoners Amid COP29
Between November 11 and 23, COP29 took place in Baku, Azerbaijan, where world leaders and climate activists gathered to discuss global climate cooperation. However, during the same period, political prisoners in the city faced intensified restrictions. Several detainees reported being denied access to their lawyers during court hearings, disruptions in communication with their families, and heightened physical violence in detention facilities, coinciding with COP29.
On November 7 and 18, the Khatai District Court and Court of Appeal rejected motions from Ulvi Hasanli, Elnara Gasimova, and Farid Mehralizada—key figures in the ‘Abzas Media’ case—seeking to be transferred to house arrest. While most of the imprisoned Abzas Media staff were required to attend court hearings remotely due to COP29, Hasanli refused the online format and was brought to court in person. He attended the session in person without his lawyer, as the authorities failed to provide timely notice to his lawyer Zibeyda Sadigova. Similarly, on November 18 and 20, the courts extended the pretrial detention of human rights defenders Imran Aliyev and Anar Mammadli until February 2025 without offering substantial justifications, further fueling concerns over the fairness of the judicial process. In a related development, on November 11, the Court of Appeal dismissed a motion for the release of minority researcher Igbal Abilov during an online session, despite his lawyer highlighting the absence of any investigative actions. On November 19, the Sabail District Court extended Abilov’s detention by another four months.
In all cases, motions by the defendants were unanimously denied whereas authorities’ motions were unanimously approved by courts without clear reasoning, following a troubling trend of routine detention extensions with minimal transparency. Domestic human rights groups have long criticized these judicial actions, noting that such decisions follow a ‘rubber stamp’ pattern, as also indicated by the European Court of Human Rights in similar cases in the past, where motions are approved with little to no examination of legal reasoning. This raises suspicions that the court rulings are politically motivated, reflecting a broader strategy to prolong the detention of political prisoners without proper legal justification.
Alongside these judicial restrictions, severe limitations were imposed on the prisoners’ rights. Sevinj Vagifgizi, the editor-in-chief of Abzas Media, reported that her phone call with her mother was abruptly cut off after only two minutes, a measure justified by the authorities as necessary to confirm the prisoners’ well-being during COP29. Additionally, all in-person visits were canceled, and foreign television channels were removed from the prison’s broadcasts, further restricting access to information. These actions violate Azerbaijani law, which guarantees prisoners the right to regular communication with their families, imposing restrictions only for security reasons.
Vagifgizi also reported that she, along with fellow journalists Elnara Gasimova and Nargiz Absalamova, were subjected to physical violence by prison authorities in response to their protests over poor ventilation and breathing difficulties in the facility. Vagifgizi and Absalamova sustained injuries due to altercations with the guards, while Gasimova faced threats for her involvement in the protest. The situation was reportedly addressed after intervention by lawyers, but it underscores the concerning living conditions and the alarming level of violence faced by political prisoners in the detention facility. Despite lawyers reporting the incidents to the Ombudsman’s Office, the Ombudsman publicly stated that no allegations of mistreatment had been received recently.
The prisoners involved in the Abzas Media and Anar Mammadli cases face serious charges, including accusations of smuggling illegal funds, with potential prison sentences of up to 12 years. All the accused deny these charges, asserting they are being punished for their investigative journalism and human rights work. Both domestic and international human rights organizations have condemned the cases as politically motivated. Similarly, Igbal Abilov, charged with treason, faces a trial that has also been widely criticized as politically motivated, further highlighting the pattern of using the judicial system to target individuals for their political and human rights activities.
Meanwhile, authorities in Azerbaijan continue to deny the existence of political prisoners, citing the rule of law and ongoing investigations. However, in his remarks to the media during COP29, presidential aide Hikmat Hajiyev reportedly breached the presumption of innocence, claiming large-scale financial fraud in the cases of the imprisoned journalists.