Muslim Unity Movement

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Ahsen Nuruzada (left) at a 2016 protest in Baku. Photo via social media.

Azerbaijan

Planted drugs and physical abuse: the detention of Muslim activists in Azerbaijan

by Aytan Farhadova

•7 min read

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

by Ismi Aghayev

•1 min read

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

Shahin Gadirov. Image via Voice of America.

Azerbaijan

Azerbaijani Shiite activist charged with drug trafficking

by Ismi Aghayev

•1 min read

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

Video published by the Azerbaijani Security Services allegedly showing Iranian religious literature translated into Azerbaijani that was seized.

Armenia–Iran Relations

Azerbaijan arrests ‘Iran-backed militants’

by Ismi Aghayev

•2 min read

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

Taleh Baghirzade in 2015. Video still via Xalq TV.

Azerbaijan

Hunger strike of Azerbaijani religious leader continues

by Ismi Aghayev

•1 min read

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