Persecution of activists

December 16, 2025 16:32

• Human rights activists considered the prosecutor's office's response to a complaint by activists from Kabardino-Balkaria to be a formality

  The Kabardino-Balkarian prosecutor's office explained its refusal to take action, citing security forces' failure to pressure the signatories of the petition in defense of Larisa Tuptsokova. Human rights activists dismissed this response as a formality.

December 16, 2025 09:49

• Alesker Mammadli remains in custody despite the need for treatment

  A Baku court has refused to ease the pretrial detention of Toplum TV founder Alesker Mammadli, who is in need of surgery.

December 16, 2025 05:55

• Turkish authorities have decided to deport Gultekin Hacibeyli

  Gultekin Hajibeyli, a member of the Coordination Center of the National Council of Democratic Forces of Azerbaijan, received an official decision on her deportation from Turkey for five years.

December 15, 2025 22:55

• A protester in Elista was arrested on terrorism charges

  A Moscow court has arrested Eduard Baltykov, a 58-year-old businessman from Kalmykia who participated in protests in Elista. He is accused of participating in a terrorist organization.

December 15, 2025 21:32

• The appellate court upheld the sentence of Grigory Melkonyants

  The Moscow City Court upheld the five-year sentence for Grigory Melkonyants, co-chairman of the Golos* movement, rejecting his defense's arguments.

December 15, 2025 18:43

• Azerbaijani activists praised the large-scale amnesty project

  The amnesty proposed by Ilham Aliyev to mark Azerbaijan's Year of Constitution and Sovereignty will affect approximately 20,000 people. Local activists welcomed the amnesty initiative, noting that it will not resolve the issue of political prisoners.

December 15, 2025 13:56

• An Azerbaijani court has remanded an opposition activist into custody

  The court remanded Vugar Gadirli, an activist with the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan, in pretrial detention for three months. He is accused of illegal possession of weapons. The party claimed that security forces planted the weapons on him during a search.

December 13, 2025 11:04

• The court refused to drop the criminal prosecution of Meydan TV journalists

  At the first hearing in the Meydan TV case, a Baku court rejected the lawyers' requests to dismiss the criminal case and release the defendants. The Committee to Protect Journalists called for an end to the persecution of critics of the Azerbaijani government.

December 12, 2025 15:20

• Kenan Zeynalov called the criminal case fabricated

  Kenan Zeynalov, a member of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan, denied the charges against him in court. He recounted the incident that led to his arrest, claiming it was a planned provocation.

December 11, 2025 13:31

• Namizad Safarov has been arrested for four months

  The court sentenced Azerbaijani lawyer and human rights activist Namizad Safarov to four months in pretrial detention on fraud charges. Activists have alleged that the lawyer's prosecution is politically motivated.

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