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Arrests in Azerbaijan – Anar Mammadli

In Azerbaijan, in the ‘Abzas Media case,’ which has been under investigation for six months now, another individual – the eighth person – has been arrested. This is the well-known Azerbaijani human rights defender Anar Mammadli. He is also accused of smuggling. This is Mammadli`s second arrest. The US State Department and the international organization Human Rights Watch have called for his immediate release.

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On April 29th, in Baku, the head of the Election Monitoring and Democracy Training Center (EMDTC) Anar Mammadli was detained. This was reported by his colleagues.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs confirmed the detention of the human rights defender.

“Anar Mammadli has been detained, an investigation is underway, and the public will be provided with additional information,” said Ibrahim Amiraslanli, a spokesman for the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

A search was conducted at Anar Mammadli’s apartment and at his parents’ apartment. Lawyer Elchin Sadigov reported that the human rights defender is implicated in the ‘Abzas Media case.’

“Despite presenting my warrant and lawyer’s credentials, the police did not allow me to meet with Anar Mammadli or participate in the search,” the lawyer said.

Anar Mammadli’s sister, Shafa Mammadova, said that the homeowners were also not allowed to participate in the search, and they did not see what the operatives confiscated from the two apartments, but they assume that the police officers ‘discovered’ money.

“I don’t know how much money they themselves placed and then ‘found,’ but there was no cash in the apartments,” she told journalists.

Reaction of the international community

The US Department of State promptly responded to Anar Mammadli’s arrest.

“We are deeply concerned about the ongoing arrests of representatives of Azerbaijan’s civil society, including Anar Mammadli,” said a State Department representative on April 30th.

“We call on the government of Azerbaijan to immediately release all unjustly detained individuals. We continue to urge the government of Azerbaijan to respect the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all, including those exercising freedom of expression,” the statement said.

“Mammadli’s arrest occurred just one day after Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s call with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, in which he ‘called on Azerbaijan to uphold its international human rights obligations and commitments and to release those unjustly detained in Azerbaijan,’” the State Department’s statement said.

The US Embassy in Azerbaijan also expressed concern about Anar Mammadli’s detention.

“We are extremely concerned about the ongoing arrests of members of Azerbaijan’s civil society, and most of all, the current detention of Anar Mammadli. We call on the government of Azerbaijan to immediately release all unjustly detained individuals,” the embassy said in a statement responding to a request from the Azerbaijani edition of Voice of America.

The international human rights organization Human Rights Watch also condemned the detention of the prominent human rights defender Anar Mammadli in Azerbaijan and called for his immediate release.

“Despite close attention to Azerbaijan, following a series of arrests of journalists and civil activists, even now, as the country prepares for the upcoming COP29 event, authorities have detained prominent civil activist Anar Mammadli. He should be immediately released,” wrote Rachel Denber, the director of Human Rights Watch for Europe and Central Asia, on social media X.

Anar Mammadli, as the head of the Election Monitoring and Democracy Training Center, actively engages in observing and monitoring elections and has repeatedly criticized the conduct of elections by the authorities in Azerbaijan.

On December 16, 2013, Mammadli was arrested and imprisoned after openly criticizing the presidential elections in October 2013. Despite international protests, in May 2014, he was sentenced to more than 5 years in prison.

On September 29, 2014, still in detention, Mammadli was awarded the Václav Havel Human Rights Prize by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe for his outstanding actions in the field of human rights protection.

In October of the same year, the Norwegian Helsinki Committee awarded him, along with other arrested human rights defenders Rasul Jafarov, Leyla Yunus, and Intigam Aliyev, the Andrei Sakharov Freedom Award.

On March 17, 2016, after nearly 2.5 years of imprisonment, Anar Mammadli was pardoned by the president of Azerbaijan along with other prominent political prisoners, and he was released.

After the release, the human rights defender continued his activities.

Since November 20 of last year, employees of the independent online publication Abzas Media have been arrested in connection with the case. Those arrested include Ulvi Hasanli, the director; his deputy, Mahammad Kekalov; chief editor Sevinj Vagifgizi; reporters Nargiz Absalamova and Elnara Gasimova; and investigative journalist Hafiz Babali.

Abzas Media is known for its corruption investigations involving high-ranking officials.

Recently, Imran Aliyev, the head of the Meclis.info platform, which monitors parliamentary activities, was implicated in this case. Like human rights defender Anar Mammadli, Aliyev has no connection to Abzas Media.

All of them have been charged under Article 206.3.2 of the Criminal Code (smuggling committed by a group of individuals by prior conspiracy), and detention has been chosen as a preventive measure. If the court finds the prosecution’s charges justified during the investigation, journalists could face up to 8 years of imprisonment.