Azerbaijan: Arbitrary arrest of Bashir Suleymanli and Mammad Alpay

AZE 001 / 0425 / OBS 017

Arbitrary detention /

Judicial harassment

Azerbaijan

7 April 2025

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Azerbaijan.

Description of the situation:

The Observatory has been informed about the arbitrary arrest and detention of Messrs. Bashir Suleymanli and Mammad Alpay, two prominent human rights defenders. Mr Suleymanli heads the Institute for Citizens’ Rights, an NGO dedicated to promoting the rule of law and providing free legal aid and civic education to young people and vulnerable communities. Mr Alpay is the head of the Election Monitoring Alliance, an organisation which advocates for free and independent electoral processes through oversight.

On 14 March 2025, Bashir Suleymani and Mammad Alpay were arrested in their respective residences, after the Investigation Department of the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Republic of Azerbaijan conducted home search and seizure operations. They were accused of holding contracts with the German Marshall Fund (GMF) and receiving funds through allegedly “criminal means” as personal income instead of grants, a practice that local legislation allows providing taxes are paid. Following several hours of interrogation, the two human rights defenders were charged with “forgery by an official” (Article 313 of the Criminal Code), “legalization of property obtained through crime when committed in large amounts” (Article 193-1.3.2 of the same Code) and “abuse of official powers” (Article 308.2 of the same Code). On the same day, the Binagadi District Court ordered their provisional detention for a period of three months and 28 days. They have since been held at the Baku Investigation Isolator.

Both Mr Suleymani and Mr Alpay rejected the charges, stating in court that their detention is linked to their legitimate defence of human rights. However, the Baku Court of Appeal dismissed the appeals, upholding the detention of Mr Suleymanli on 18 March and Mr Alpay on 20 March. If convicted on these charges, the accused CSO leaders could each face up to 12 years in prison.

The arrests of Mr Suleymani and Mr Alpay occur within a broader context of ongoing judicial harassment of civil society in Azerbaijan. Since 2014, Azerbaijani civil society has been subjected to continuous criminal investigations and is now enduring a new wave of repression aimed at further shrinking the remaining civic space. Politically motivated arrests and criminal prosecution have been used as intimidation strategies to instill fear and discourage engagement in human rights defense and activism.

The Observatory recalls that Mr Suleymani was previously arrested in 2013, when he was co-founder of the Election Monitoring and Democracy Studies Centre (EMDSC). He was sentenced in May 2014 to three and a half years in prison on fabricated charges including "embezzlement," "illegal business," "tax evasion," "abuse of authority," and "forgery." He was released in March 2015 after receiving a presidential pardon. Mr Alpay, for his part, has faced growing pressure in recent months. In 2024, his email account was targeted by cyberattacks, and on 6 February 2025, he was interrogated at the Main Police Department of Baku City in connection with the case of human rights defender Anar Mammadli.

The Observatory strongly condemns the arbitrary arrest, detention and judicial harassment of Bashir Suleymanli and Mammad Alpay, and considers these actions a blatant attempt to silence leading voices for human rights, justice and accountability in Azerbaijan.

The Observatory urges the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Bashir Suleymanli and Mammad Alpay and to drop all charges against them, as their detention and the charged brought against them appear to be directly linked to their legitimate human rights activities.

The Observatory further calls on the Azerbaijani authorities to guarantee, in all circumstances, the physical and psychological integrity of Bashir Suleymanli and Mammad Alpay while in detention and to end all forms of harassment, including at the judicial level, against him and all other human rights defenders in the country.

Actions requested:

Please write to the authorities of Azerbaijan asking them to:

1. Guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Bashir Suleymanli and Mammad Alpay, as well as all other human rights defenders in Azerbaijan;
2. Immediately and unconditionally release Bashir Suleymanli and Mammad Alpay, whose detention appear to be solely aimed at punishing them for their legitimate defense of human rights, and to release all other arbitrarily detained human rights defenders in Azerbaijan;
3. Drop all charges against Bashir Suleymanli, Mammad Alpay and put an end to all acts of harassment, including at the judicial level, against them and all other human rights defenders in Azerbaijan, ensuring that they can carry out their legitimate activities without any hindrance or fear of reprisal;
4. Carry out an immediate, thorough, and impartial investigation into the circumstances of Bashir Suleymanli and Mammad Alpay’s arrest and the motivations behind the charges, ensuring accountability for any procedural violations and abuses;
5. Guarantee in all circumstances the right to freedom of expression, as enshrined in international human rights law and particularly in Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Azerbaijan is a state party.

Addresses:

• Mr. Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, E-mail: office@pa.gov.az, office@apparat.gov.az
• Mr. Kyamran Aliev, Prosecutor General of the Republic of Azerbaijan, E-mail: info@prosecutor.gov.az
• Mr. Jeyhun Aziz oglu Bayramov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, E-mail: katiblik@mfa.gov.az
• Mr. Farid T. Ahmadov, Minister of Justice of the Republic of Azerbaijan, E-mail: contact@justice.gov.az
• S.E. M. Galib Israfilov, Ambassador, Permanent Mission of Azerbaijan to the United Nations in Geneva, E-mail: geneva@mission.mfa.gov.az

Please also write to the diplomatic representations of Azerbaijan in your respective countries.

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Geneva-Paris, 7 April 2025

Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (the Observatory) was created in 1997 by FIDH and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT). The objective of this programme is to prevent or remedy situations of repression against human rights defenders. FIDH and OMCT are both members of ProtectDefenders.eu, the European Union Human Rights Defenders Mechanism implemented by international civil society.

To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line:

• E-mail: alert@observatoryfordefenders.org
• Tel FIDH: + 33 (0) 1 43 55 25 18
• Tel OMCT: + 41 22 809 49 39