Date of Birth: 19 September 1982
Detained Since: 4 December 2023
Affiliation: Former police officer; human rights activist; whistleblower on police misconduct

Charges:

• On 6 December 2023, the Baku Yasamal District Police Department charged Ilhamiz Guliyev with:

  • Illegal acquisition, possession, preparation, processing, or transportation of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances with intent to sell, involving a large quantity (Criminal Code, Art. 234.4.3).

  At trial, the court reclassified the charge to:

  • Illegal acquisition, possession, preparation, processing, or transportation of a significant quantity of narcotic drugs without intent to sell (Art. 234.1-1).

Conviction and Sentence:
On 12 December 2024, the Baku Assize Court convicted Guliyev under Article 234.1-1 and sentenced him to three years’ imprisonment. His appeal is pending before the Baku Court of Appeal.

Political Prisoner Status:

His case meets criteria (a) and (e) of PACE Resolution 1900 (2012):

• (a) – violations of the European Convention on Human Rights (freedom of expression, freedom of association, liberty and security, and fair trial).

• (e) – prosecution motivated by an ulterior political purpose, namely retaliation for exposing police misconduct in an interview with AbzasMedia.

Summary:

Ilhamiz Guliyev is a former police officer who became a human rights activist after leaving the force. In September 2023 he gave an interview to AbzasMedia in which he described how police officers use undocumented drugs to plant evidence in politically motivated cases. Shortly after the interview he was subjected to escalating harassment: administrative detention for minor hooliganism and disobeying police orders, surveillance, and a travel ban imposed without explanation.

On 4 December 2023, officers of the Yasamal District Police Department detained him outside his apartment. Two days later he was charged with possession of a large quantity of methamphetamine with intent to sell. The prosecution alleged no evidence of trafficking beyond the statements of arresting officers and the forensic confirmation of the drug’s nature. In May 2024 his trial began; in December 2024 he was convicted on a lesser possession charge but still sentenced to three years’ imprisonment.

Guliyev has consistently maintained that police planted drugs on him as retaliation for his public allegations of corruption. His case reflects the long-documented use of fabricated narcotics charges to silence whistleblowers, activists, and journalists in Azerbaijan.

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