Researcher and OC Media contributor Bahruz Samadov has attempted to take his own life in prison after prosecutors demanded he be sentenced to 16 years on charges of treason, his grandmother has said.
Samadov’s only living relative, his grandmother, Zibeyda Osmanova, told OC Media on Saturday that he was saved at the last moment by another prisoner.
‘When he spoke with me, one of the guards sat with us and [Bahruz] stated that one of his cell mates saved him. He could not say when he attempted suicide, last night or this morning’.
‘I know that he is innocent and cannot prove his innocence, and he cannot come to terms with it’, Osmanova said.
On Friday, prosecutors demanded Samadov be sentenced to 16 years in prison.
One of Samadov’s friends, Aykhan Zaidzade, wrote that Samadov had gone on hunger strike after the prosecutor’s announced their demands.
This is Samadov’s second hunger strike in the prison. He ended his first several days after beginning it in February, after authorities reportedly withheld medical care and worsened his conditions.
Amrah Tahmazov, an Azerbaijani activist, stated earlier on Saturday that Samadov had now been transferred to the hospital wing in the Baku Pretrial Detention Centre.
Tahmazov also wrote that his lawyer, Zibeyda Sadigova, had sent an official notice to the Public Defender’s Office and the Penitentiary Service of the Ministry of Justice, asking them to visit Samadov immediately.
‘We are all concerned about Samadov's psychological state. He may attempt suicide again at any time’, Tahmazov warned.
The Penitentiary Service of the Ministry of Justice did not respond to a request for comment.
Samadov disappeared on 21 August 2024 while visiting Baku from Prague where he is a PhD candidate at Charles University.
After two days of silence, officials confirmed that he had been detained, with the Baku’s Sabail District Court that afternoon confirming that he was being charged with treason. If found guilty, he faces between 12–20 years in prison or a life sentence.
Samadov has denied the charges against him, calling the accusations of high treason fabricated. In his testimony, he has stated that there was no evidence to support the accusations that he had collaborated with the Armenian security services.
Before his arrest, Samadov was an outspoken advocate for peace with Armenia.
Yousef Bardouka
International rights groups have condemned his arrest, dismissing the charges as fabricated.
The conclusion of Samadov’s trial comes as the authorities continues the latest wave in its crackdown on dissent.
In May, Igbal Abilov, a Talysh researcher, was sentenced to 18 years in prison, also on charges of high treason.
On Friday, The Baku Court of Grave Crimes sentenced the management and journalists of Abzas Media to between seven and a half and nine years in prison.
Farid Mehralizada, a journalist at RFE/RL, was also sentenced to nine years. He was detained in June 2024.
Aytan Farhadova
