22 August 2024
Azerbaijani researcher and OC Media contributor Bahruz Samadov has reportedly been detained in Baku on charges of treason. Samadov has been an outspoken critic of the government and frequently writes on Azerbaijani politics.
Reports that Samadov, 28, was missing emerged on Wednesday night, when friends and colleagues reported that Samadov had failed to attend planned meetings, and was not responding to messages.
On Thursday morning, Samadov’s family confirmed to friends and media that he had been detained on Wednesday night and the family’s flat searched.
Azerbaijani journalist Nurlan Libre told OC Media that Samadov’s grandmother, whom the researcher had been staying with, had confirmed that their house had been searched and Samadov detained on charges of treason. Earlier reports had suggested that Samadov was detained on drug possession charges, with Libre noting that it was ‘a popular practice’ to detain political activists on drug charges in Azerbaijan.
He expressed concern that Samadov might have been tortured, given the silence since his detention at around 16:30 on Wednesday.
Colleagues and acquaintances also noted that Samadov had cited earlier pressure from the Azerbaijani for his views.
Aykhan Zayedzadeh, a friend of Samadov’s, told OC Media that Samadov had planned to meet a friend at 17:00, and was last seen active on Telegram at 19:27.
‘We couldn’t find any information about him for over 13 hours’, said Zayedzadeh.
He added that Samadov had joked about his arrest in a message sent that afternoon.
‘He always joked about potentially getting arrested, but this time he wrote in detail’, said Zayedzadeh. ‘He said that he’d be probably be in jail for “treason” ’.
While neither police nor the Interior Ministry have yet publicly commented on Samadov’s whereabouts, an independent journalist was reportedly told by the Interior Ministry that they had not detained Samadov. Zayedzadeh stated that this suggested that Samadov had been detained by the Security Services.
Journalist Ulviyya Ali wrote later on Thursday that Samadov’s grandmother, Zibeyda Osmanova, told journalists that six secret services employees had searched the house for drugs on Wednesday afternoon, confiscating two phones, two computers, a university diploma, and Samadov’s identity card and passport.
Samedov is a PhD candidate at Charles University in Prague. He has frequently written for OC Media and other publications and is a regular guest on the Caucasus Digest podcast. Samadov has also been an outspoken advocate for peace with Armenia.
Samadov’s reported detention comes less than a month after the authorities arrested Igbal Abilov, an ethnic Talysh researcher, on charges of treason.
A number of prominent academics, peace-builders, journalists, and activists reacted to the news, with Chatham House fellow Laurence Broers highlighting Samadov’s ‘vital voice in debates and media commentary on peace’, and expressing hope for his swift release.
‘Azerbaijani state is silencing its brightest,’ wrote Armenian scholar Vicken Cheterian. ‘Azerbaijan will be left with no one to tell the truth about its past and report about its present: only people repeating state lies’.
Andranik Shirinyan from Freedom House Armenia called it ’devastating news’.
‘I hope everyone, including the West, which continues to enable the Aliyev regime, does everything to release him and takes notes. This is the country that will host COP29’, noted Shirinyan.
BBC journalist Grigor Atanesian called Bahruz a ‘very brave and a true public intellectual’, adding that he was ‘one of very few voices in the region who care about everybody's rights, not just their people's rights’.
This article will be updated as events develop.
Correction: This article originally suggested that Samadov had been detained on drug charges. Samadov’s grandmother later told journalists that he was detained on suspicion of treason.
