Azerbaijan: Free Prominent Opposition Leader
Tofig Yagublu is a prominent opposition figure, a former journalist and an outspoken government critic in Azerbaijan. He is a member of the Musavat Party and a senior politician in the National Council of Democratic Forces – a coalition of opposition parties and activists. Yagublu has faced years in harassment for his peaceful activism and was recently arrested again as part of a series of arrests in Azerbaijan targeting independent journalists and government critics.
On 14 December 2023, police arrested Tofig Yagublu as he was exiting the metro in central Baku. The same day, about 20 police officers searched Yagublu’s home, where they claim to have found €5,000 (about US$ 5,500), 2,500 Azerbaijani manat (about US$ 1,500) and an unspecified amount in US dollars. During the search, officers led Tofig Yagublu’s wife Maya, who was home alone, upstairs, while others stayed downstairs. After searching upstairs, they went to the bedroom, told her to lift the pillows, and found the cash. The authorities allege that Yagublu conspired with someone else to provide fake documents to a third party to supposedly help him build an asylum claim.
On 15 December, the Narimanov District Court of Baku ordered to remand Yahublu in pretrial custody pending investigation on forgery and fraud charges, contending that Yagublu would abscond or interfere with the investigation without any evidence to substantiate this claim. The court also referenced the nature and gravity of the offense allegedly committed by Yagublu as a justification of his placement in the pretrial detention.
Yagublu has been repeatedly arrested and subjected to ill-treatment for his political activism and criticism of the government for more than a decade. He was first arrested in 2013 after traveling to the city of Ismayili, in northern Azerbaijan, on 23-24 January 2013, to observe demonstrations and riots that were taking place there at the time. In March 2014, following an unfair trial under politically motivated charges, the Shaki Court of Grave Crimes found him guilty of inciting mass violence and sentenced him to five years in prison. Amnesty International recognised Tofig Yagublu prisoner of conscience. The European Court of Human Rights subsequently ruled that the detention of Tofig Yagublu violated his right to liberty and security (Yagublu v. Azerbaijan, application no. 31709/13). Tofig Yagublu was released in March 2016 under a presidential pardon after spending more than three years in prison.
On 19 October 2019, Tofig Yagublu was placed in “administrative detention” for 30 days for purportedly failing to obey police orders at a peaceful protest rally violently dispersed by the police. Yagublu claimed that he was subjected to torture and other ill-treatment while in detention, but the authorities have failed to investigate these allegations.
Tofig Yagublu was arrested again on 22 March 2020 after a car accident, which he said was deliberately caused by the other party. Now police accused him of hooliganism and alleged that he had beaten a couple who were in the other car involved in the accident. On 3 September, a court in Baku sentenced him to four years and three months’ imprisonment. In July 2021, he was released on parole with a probationary period of two years and six months.
On 1 December 2020, Tofig Yagublu was detained and handcuffed by police, who then placed a plastic bag over his head and severely beat him at the police station. He gave a video interview the following day, in which severe bruising and swelling was visible around his eyes. In the interview, Tofig Yagublu said that the officers who beat him up demanded that he say on camera that he would halt his political struggle and stop criticizing President Ilham Aliyev.
On 15 December 2020, Tofig Yagublu was arrested again among other protesters who took to the streets in central Baku demanding the release of imprisoned political activist Saleh Rustamli. Police surrounded the protestors and dragged them to police vans as soon as they began chanting slogans that called for the activist’s release. Tofig Yagublu and other protesters were fined and then released.
Tofig Yagublu’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.