Azerbaijan: Drop Charges And Release Gubad Ibadoghlu
Gubad Ibadoghlu is a well-known Azerbaijani economist and political activist. He is the chairperson of the Azerbaijan Democracy and Prosperity Movement, established in 2014, that has been arbitrarily denied registration as a political party by the Azerbaijani authorities. He was a senior visiting scholar at the London School of Economic and led the Economic Research Centre, an NGO that conducted research on public finance management, good governance, and budget transparency. The Azerbaijani authorities arbitrarily closed the Economic Research Centre and froze its bank accounts in 2014, as part of tightening restrictions on Azerbaijan’s civil society. Gubad Ibadoghlu went into political exile in 2017 but returned to Azerbaijan in 2023, to visit his family.
On 23 July 2023, police officers arrested Gubad Ibadoghlu and his wife, Irada Bayramova, while they were driving to meet youth activists from the Azerbaijan Democracy and Prosperity Movement in Sumgayit, a city about 40 kilometres from capital Baku. Four unmarked cars surrounded their vehicle and forced it to stop by ramming it from the front and the rear.
According to their child, Zhala Bayramova, 20 plain-clothed officers “forced the couple out of their car, and physically assaulted them, then forced them into separate cars and drove them to the Interior Ministry’s Organized Crime Unit in Baku”. After being released later that day, Irada Bayramova had multiple bruises to her arms, legs and back. Gubad Ibadoghlu filed a complaint about their ill-treatment, which was left unaddressed.
According to the Azerbaijani Ministry of Interior official statement made on the same day, the arrest of several people, including Gubad Ibadoghlu, is a part of an operation against supporters of Fethullah Gülen, the exiled Turkish cleric who the Turkish authorities along with his supporters, have designated as “terrorist organization.” Police allegedly seized US$ 40,000 in cash, among other things, from the office of the Economic Research Centre. They also raided Gubad Ibadoghlu and Irada Bayramova’s home and briefly detained Ibadoghlu’s brother, Gabid Baymalov.
On 22 April 2024, after 274 days in detention, Gubad Ibadoghlu was released from the detention centre and moved to house arrest. According to his lawyer, the decision was based on Gubad Ibadoghlu's deteriorating health condition and the lack of medical examinations and care at the detention centre. According to his family, Gubad Ibadoghlu’s medical conditions include heart disease, type 2 diabetes, kidney disease, severe lower back pain, and his health is quickly deteriorating. According to his family, while his blood sugar levels and general health conditions have sharply worsened, he has not had appropriate medical examinations to determine the causes and the correct treatment plan. While at the detention centre, he was not given some of the medication he was regularly taking before his arrest, while other medications were given on an irregular schedule, which increased his risk of a stroke and of developing further heart disease and other life-threatening conditions.
Gubad Ibadoghlu’s unfounded prosecution is part of the Azerbaijani authorities’ ongoing crackdown on human rights defenders, government critics, independent media and all dissent. Criticism of the authorities is routinely met with repression, and those who dare to challenge the government face trumped up charges, unfair trials and lengthy prison sentences. Amnesty International has documented previously how the Azerbaijani authorities sought to rid the country of all critical voices ahead of major international events Azerbaijan was hosting. This is a familiar pattern observed ahead of the 2024 UN Climate Change Conference (COP 29), which the country will host in November 2024 in Baku.