Jabir Imanov, a police officer who gained prominence for brutally beating and torturing protesters during the deadly 2003 demonstrations that brought Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to power, has died. The news sparked heated discussions about police brutality, especially after an old video of Imanov kicking a protester went viral.
On 15 October 2003, presidential elections were held, during which the two main candidates — Aliyev and opposition leader Isa Gambar — received almost equal votes. According to electoral legislation, such a result should have meant a second round of voting — instead, Aliyev declared himself president.
Following his announcement, protesters gathered at Baku’s Liberty Square. Police soon gathered to disperse the demonstration, including through violent tactics. Footage from that time shows Imanov, then a 27-year-old police officer, participating in beating the peaceful demonstrators.
The conflict lasted two days, during which 1–2 protesters were killed, with dozens more being injured.
From 1999–2018, Imanov held various positions in the Interior Ministry, rising to the rank of police lieutenant colonel. During these years, he also served as the head of the Cultural Centre of the State Security Service (SSS).
Together with his brother Tahir Imanov, he was a member of the satirical club Parni is Baku, and was one of the members of the Club of the Funny and Inventive, a Soviet comedy television show and international competition in which teams compete by giving humorous answers and show prepared sketches.
This latter club was a favourite of former President Heydar Aliyev, who attended their shows in Baku with his family.
Among those expressing condolences after Imanov’s death was First Lady and Vice President Mehriban Aliyeva, who shared her grief with the public in three languages: Azerbaijani, English, and Russian.
Aliyeva stated that she was ‘deeply saddened’ after the news that Imanov passed away, adding that he was ‘a bright, sincere, and exceptionally talented person’.
‘Our entire family grieves and extends our condolences to his relatives and loved ones. May Allah grant peace to his soul’, Aliyeva concluded.
In contrast, journalists and protesters involved in the 2003 events have criticised Imanov, calling him a torturer.
Journalists shared their experience with Imanov
Following Imanov’s death, former RFE/RL journalist Esmira Javadova took to Facebook to discuss her one encounter with Imanov during a court trial related to the October 2003 protests.
‘When Jabir entered the courtroom to testify in the October events, the prisoners locked behind the iron bars pointed at him and told the judge, “This dishonest man has tormented us more than anyone else”. Jabir ran out of the courtroom, and the guards forcibly calmed the prisoners’, she wrote.
‘What should I do now when this is all I remember about the dead?’, she continued, a rhetorical question to those who criticised her for writing such things after Imanov’s death.
A user named Etibar Aliyev commented on Javadova’s post, corroborating her story.
‘When I was detained for 15 days in prison [in 2003], everyone who was arrested talked about nothing but [Imanov’s torture of protestors]’, he wrote.
In turn, independent media outlet Meydan TV published footage of Imanov’s actions during the 2003 protests, as well as re-sharing former MP Igbal Aghazada’s interview in which he discussed Imanov’s brutality.
However, after a new surge in comments related to this post, Aghazada spoke out against critics, emphasising that the interview had been given in 2018.
‘It's a shame that social media users continue to persistently spread this speech. What happened is a bittersweet story, but I consider it inappropriate and unethical to recall such events on the anniversary of the death of a talented actor who died at a young age’, Aghazada said.
Konul Shamilgizi, another prominent Azerbaijani journalist who is currently based in Turkey, accused Imanov of killing ‘an innocent man’, in reference to the death of Hamidagha Zahidov, who was one of those killed during the 2003 protests.
‘On 16 October 2003, police officer Jabir, with other police, killed an innocent man. The system, of which you [commentators defending Imanov] constantly flatterer, not only failed to find and punish Zahidov’s killer, but also concealed responsibility for this death, because the responsibility lay with Jabir’, Shamilgizi wrote.
She also stressed that while some justified Imanov’s actions with the claim that ‘most of the organisers of the 2003 rally were conspirators’, this did not account for the subsequent torture of innocent people.
Previously, in an interview in April 2015 with the pro-government publication Okhu.az, Imanov stated he had no regrets about working as a police officer.
‘For me, working in the police is an honour; it's a very interesting job’, he said, adding that ‘sometimes completely innocent people end up in prison. As they say, poverty and faith have nothing to do with it’.
Aytan Farhadova
