Azerbaijan
Shiite Muslims arrested in Azerbaijan as authorities reportedly crack down on hijabs in schools
Samir Babayev, a member of the Muslim Unity Movement, told his family that he was tortured by police after being arrested on drug charges.
Muslim Unity Movement
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Azerbaijan
Planted drugs and physical abuse: the detention of Muslim activists in Azerbaijan
As tensions with Iran have increased, so have the risks of being a Muslim activist in Azerbaijan. Faced with a lack of evidence, however, Azerbaijani authorities have looked at other ways, from intimidation to false drug charges, to get the results they want. On 26 October, Ahsan Nuruzada, a member of the Muslim Unity Movement, a religious opposition group in Azerbaijan, was detained by four men in civilian clothing. For the next three days, Nuruzada’s family had no idea of his whereabou
Azerbaijan
Hunger striking prisoner dies in Baku Court of Appeal
Sabuhi Salimov, a member of the opposition Islamic Party, has died of a heart attack in court following a 53-day hunger strike in protest against his detention. Salimov died on 2 March, reportedly shortly after the Baku Court of Appeal upheld his conviction. Salimov was detained by Azerbaijan’s State Security Service in October 2021. On 11 November 2022, he was sentenced to 17 years in prison on charges of treason. Human rights defenders report that Salimov was found guilty of spying on
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijani Shiite activist charged with drug trafficking
An Azerbaijani member of the Muslim Unity Movement has been detained on four months pre-trial detention facing drug charges. Shahin Gadirov was reportedly detained by plainclothes police officers on his way home from work on 23 November. He was charged with drug trafficking on Sunday and denied bail by the court. The Muslim Unity Movement has decried Gadirov’s arrest, calling it a ‘provocation’ against the movement and part of mounting pressure on their group. With Gadirov’s arrest, nine o
Armenia–Iran Relations
Azerbaijan arrests ‘Iran-backed militants’
The Azerbaijani authorities have arrested 19 Azerbaijani citizens who they said were members of an Iranian-backed militant group in the country. On Monday, Azerbaijan’s State Security Service said they had exposed and neutralised an illegal armed group created by and under the control of the Iranian special services. The Security Service said the group was given false identity documents with which they travelled to Tehran through third countries, after which they were flown to Syria on milit
Azerbaijan
Hunger strike of Azerbaijani religious leader continues
Taleh Baghirzade, chair of Azerbaijan’s Muslim Unity Movement, has been on hunger strike since 3 June in protest against the arrest and alleged torture of members of his organisation. Baghirzade has also demanded an apology from the law enforcement officers who allegedly insulted God while interrogating a member of the group. Baghirzade’s lawyer, Fakhraddin Mehdiyev, told OC Media that despite having ‘serious health problems’ his client would not stop his hunger strike until ‘the perpetrator
