Azerbaijani researcher and OC Media contributor Bahruz Samadov has been charged with treason by the Sabail District Court, and faces 12–20 years in prison or a life sentence if found guilty. 

Samadov was detained by the State Security Service on Wednesday. 

The court remanded Samadov to four months of pre-trial detention on Friday. If found guilty, Samadov faces 12–20 years to life in prison. 

[Read Samadov’s latest op-ed prior to his arrest: Opinion | Azerbaijan’s cooling relations with Turkey]

Samadov was charged with Article 274 of Azerbaijan’s criminal code, betrayal of the state, which covers siding with the enemy, espionage, the distribution of state secrets to a foreign state, and rendering assistance to a foreign state or a foreign organisation to prepare for a hostile activity against Azerbaijan. According to his lawyer Zibeyda Sadigova, Samadov maintains his innocence, stating in court that he had ‘never betrayed his country’.

Footage shared by activists shows Samadov saying ‘the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit’ to onlookers as he is being escorted out of the court.

Shortly after the charges were announced, Samadov reportedly stated that he would begin a hunger strike. 

Speaking to the media, lawyer Zibeyda Sadigova stated that the court had remanded Samadov to pre-trial detention on the basis that he might attempt to flee. 

‘We emphasised that he is not trying to evade the investigation, so there is no need for pre-trial detention. Unfortunately, the court granted the investigation’s request and ordered Bahruz to be held in detention for four months. We are now preparing to appeal this decision’, said Sadigova. 

She also added that ‘there was some pressure exerted on him’, in response to a question of whether Samadov had been tortured after his detention. 

Charged for ‘writings against the state’

The Security Service confirmed that they had detained Samadov to his lawyer, Zibeyda Sadigova, on Thursday, more than 24 hours after his detention.

According to Voice of America, a state lawyer told Samadov’s grandmother that he had been detained in relation to his ‘writings against the state’. 

Samadov was also reportedly prevented from meeting with his lawyer whilst in detention, with the relevant authorities failing to respond to Sadigova’s calls and requests. 

Samadov, 28, was first reported missing on Wednesday night, when friends and colleagues shared that he had failed to attend planned meetings, and was not responding to messages. 

On Thursday morning, Samadov’s grandmother, Zibeyda Osmanova, confirmed to friends and media that he had been detained by State Security Service officers on Wednesday night and the family’s flat searched. 

Later the same day, supporters identifying themselves as Azerbaijani civil society actors issued a statement on Samadov’s detention. 

‘The autocratic regime in Azerbaijan, which has been engaging in mass repression with the aim of silencing all independent and critical voices in the country for over a year, has already imprisoned dozens of journalists, activists, and politicians’, they wrote. ‘The Azerbaijani government […] aims to completely suppress all freedoms and establish absolute dictatorship in the country.’

‘We demand the immediate release of Bahruz Samadov and an end to the attacks on human rights and freedoms in the country!’

Samadov 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.

‘Bahruz stated that he is innocent, that he is a peaceful person, and even mentioned that he is a Christian who follows a religion that preaches peace’, Sadigova told media. ‘Therefore, both by his religious beliefs and personal convictions, he is committed to peace. He has always advocated for peace, writing articles, making posts, and conducting research on peace-related issues. He examined both sides of the peace issue as a scholar who conducts thorough research and studies archives.’

Charles University’s press department told Swedish media Blankspot that they were following the case. 

‘The academic community of Charles University is following with concern the news of the arrest of Bahruz Samadov, a doctoral student at the Faculty of Social Sciences of Charles University, in Baku, Azerbaijan. The management of the Faculty of Social Sciences of Charles University together with the management of Charles University are working intensively to gather information from verified sources. Charles University has also approached the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic with a request for cooperation’, the statement read. 

Blankspot also reported that the Czech Foreign Ministry and the Czech Embassy in Baku had confirmed that they were informed about and monitoring the situation, but would not at present ‘disclose details’. 

Peter Stano, Peter Stano, the EU Affairs and Security Policy spokesperson, told Politico that the EU was ‘following with concern’ Samadov’s case.

‘His case adds to the worrying and growing number of detentions of independent journalists, human rights defenders and civil society representatives since late last year’, he said. ‘We reiterate our call on Azerbaijan to release all those detained for exercising their fundamental rights. We also call on Azerbaijan to ensure transparency and due process, as well as dignified and safe conditions for all those detained, including their full access to health and independent legal services.’

Freedom House also expressed concern over Samadov’s arrest and urged countries participating in November’s COP29 summit in Baku to call on Azerbaijan to ‘cease its assault on press freedom and immediately release all unjustly detained media workers.’

We are concerned by the arrest of freelance journalist Bahruz Samadov in Azerbaijan—the latest in the Aliyev regime's escalating attacks against independent media.

As we look to #COP29 this fall, we urge participating govts to strongly reiterate the need for the Aliyev regime to… https://t.co/u8AHsM5qgq

— Freedom House (@freedomhouse) August 23, 2024

Samadov is the second Azerbaijani researcher to be charged with treason in less than a month, after the Azerbaijani authorities arrested Igbal Aliyev, an ethnic Talysh researcher, on charges of treason and accused him of making ‘secret negotiations and deals’ via Skype with Armenian academics.

Shortly after Samadov’s court session, reports emerged that Samad Shikhi, another OC Media contributor, was detained at the airport in Baku as he was trying to leave the country.

[Read more: Azerbaijan reportedly detains second OC Media contributor as new crackdown intensifies]