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Vidadi Isgandarli, an Azerbaijani opposition figure in exile well-known for his fierce criticism of the government, has died in France after being brutally beaten and stabbed in an attack at his apartment that his family says was politically motivated.
Oktay Isgandarli confirmed his brother’s death to RFE/RL on October 1 after doctors fought for more than a day to keep him alive.
The deadly attack on Isgandarli follows a similar pattern of violence against Azerbaijani opposition figures in exile; in 2021, another politician in exile, Mohammad Mirzali, survived being stabbed.
“My brother had no idea who the attackers were or what motivated the assault…. They did not speak, and they wore masks, making it impossible to identify them,” Oktay Isgandarli told RFE/RL.
“I have no doubt this is a politically motivated assassination. My brother survived a previous attack by approximately 15 assailants in 2022 here in France.”
Oktay Isgandarli said he received a desperate video call from his brother early on September 29 as he clutched a pillow to his abdomen to try and staunch the bleeding after being attacked by three masked men who had broken into his apartment in Mulhouse in eastern France.
“I contacted the authorities and provided them with my brother’s address,” he said.
“When I arrived, the police had cordoned off the area, and I was unable to speak with him before he was rushed to the hospital.”
Doctors said Vidadi Isgandarli was stabbed at least 21 times in the abdomen as well as blows to the body and head.
They managed to resuscitate him, but he never regained consciousness and succumbed to his injuries early on October 1, they said.
Vidadi Isgandarli was known as a vocal critic of the Azerbaijani government and President Ilham Aliyev, who has maintained a tight grip on power since 2003.
In 2010, Vidadi Isgandarli participated in parliamentary elections, which he denounced as fraudulent after opposition candidates failed to get elected. He then helped organize protests against the official election results.
Arrested in 2011 and charged with various offenses, including assault and interference with election officials, Vidadi denied the allegations, claiming they were politically motivated.
He was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison but was released early in December 2012 in a presidential amnesty.
Fearing further persecution, Vidadi, his brother, and their families emigrated to France in 2015.
With Azerbaijan set to host the climate conference COP29 in November, right groups have said it is imperative that the event is used also to shine a spotlight on the country and the deteriorating human rights situation there.
Earlier this year, Amnesty International noted that it and other human rights groups had documented the “widespread abuse” by the Azerbaijani authorities of the criminal justice system to crack down on human rights including the right to freedom of expression, often “detaining and falsely charging their critics with economic crimes.”
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— Notes from Georgia/South Caucasus (Hälbig, Ralph) (@SouthCaucasus) October 1, 2024
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze called on the Anti-Corruption Bureau to reverse its decision to declare Transparency International Georgia as an organization with “declared election objectives,” a day after the watchdog announced it couldn’t observe October elections under its name.
The Prime Minister said such legal status for CSOs will only serve as an incentive for “external manipulation,” adding that TI Georgia’s stated electoral goal and “radical and polarizing political agenda” has long been known and was already enough “for the public to draw the appropriate conclusions.”
Prime Minister Kobakhidze emphasized that the fact that TI Georgia has “declared electoral objectives” and “openly conducts a canvassing-propaganda campaign against the ruling party” is clear to any “objective observer.” According to Kobakhidze, the decision of the Bureau is “legally completely correct”, “justified with the highest standard of infallibility” and “fully in line” with the Law on Citizens’ Political Association, which he said is why the Court decided to rule in favor of this decision.
However, citing the interest of the state and the need to avoid external interference in the electoral process by foreign actors, “the first signs of which have already appeared,” he said he believes it would be correct to withdraw this status from TI Georgia and any other organization listed by the anti-corruption agency, although TI Georgia was the only one to announce disobedience to the Bureau’s decision.
The Prime Minister went on to explain why it is clear to Georgian society that the organization has been pursuing a “politically radical and manipulative” agenda for several years, citing examples such as the error of CSOs in the parallel counting of votes during the 2020 elections, as well as the calls by these organizations for government resignation and the creation of a “technical government” in 2022. Kobakhidze also mentioned that the watchdog’s mission now is to return the former United National Movement government to power.
TI Georgia “does not need to be granted any legal status for the Georgian society to draw appropriate conclusions and exercise caution,” stressed the Prime Minister.
Kobakhidze further stated that in addition to TI Georgia, there are many other local monitoring organizations registered in the CEC database, of which almost all financially larger organizations would have to be classified as organizations with electoral objectives if the Anti-Corruption Bureau acted “with a purely legal approach,” which in turn “can be used even more actively for external manipulation.”
The Prime Minister once again called on the Bureau to use its discretion and reconsider its decision on TI Georgia, as well as refrain from any such decisions in connection to other entities before the parliamentary elections.
“It is true that the organizations working with foreign funds and conducting electoral canvassing-propaganda grossly violate the provisions of the Constitution of Georgia, the principle of state sovereignty and the principles of democratic elections, but due to the damaged reputation of Transparency International Georgia and other relevant organizations in society, this violation, from a practical point of view, will not influence the results of the October 26 parliamentary elections,” the Prime Minister concluded.
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