The Baku Grave Crimes Court has sentenced Azerbaijani researcher, peace activist, and OC Media contributor Bahruz Samadov to 15 years in prison on charges of treason.
The court issued its ruling against Samadov on Monday.
A journalist present in court for the verdict told OC Media that the process was held behind closed doors, with Samadov’s grandmother, friends, and activists only allowed to enter the courtroom for the verdict to be announced.
They said Samadov looked tired, as he was on the fourth day of the hunger strike.
Human rights lawyer Zibeyda Sadigova, who represented Samadov said he was only drinking water, and was currently being held in the prison hospital.
‘As Samadov was very weak from the hunger strike, he could not write his last words on paper. He said that he is a peace activist, and did not commit any crime’, she said.
‘He is connected with his state, and if that were not true, he would not have visited Azerbaijan. He is a researcher and author of many articles, and he wrote about Azerbaijanis, Armenians, the Khojaly massacre, etc’, she added.
‘We were ready for this verdict and Samadov also expected this decision from the judge. And will appeal the decision, we have not lost hope’, she said.
On Friday, the prosecution demanded Samadov be sentenced to 16 years in prison. Samadov reportedly attempted suicide and then began a hunger strike shortly after.
On Saturday, Samadov’s grandmother, Zibeyda Osmanova, told OC Media that Samadov was innocent, and could not come to terms with not being allowed to prove it.
‘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’, she said.
One of Samadov’s friends, Aykhan Zayedzadeh, wrote that Samadov had gone on hunger strike after the prosecution announced their demands.
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.
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.
The conclusion of Samadov’s trial comes as the authorities continue 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
