Soyudlu Mine Protests

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Nazim Baydamirli. Image via Wikipedia Commons.

Azerbaijan

Former Azerbaijani MP sentenced to eight years in prison for extortion

by Aytan Farhadova

•2 min read

Former Azerbaijani MP and businessman Nazim Baydamirli has been sentenced to eight years in prison by the Baku Grave Crimes Court on charges of extortion. Baydamirli was sentenced on 30 September, following over a year spent in pre-trial detention. His lawyer, Agil Layij, told Meydan TV that the charges against his client were unfounded. Likewise, Baydamirli’s wife, Farida Baydamirli, told OC Media that his arrest was absurd. She said that the family never expected such a thing would

Riot police outside Soyudlu village in June 2023, as people from the village protest. Photo via Caucasus Watch

Azerbaijan

Soyudlu protest poster printer imprisoned on drug charges

by Aytan Farhadova

•1 min read

An Azerbaijani man working at a printing shop which printed posters for the 2023 Soyudlu environmental protests has been sentenced to prison on drug charges. Joshgun Musayev, 34, was sentenced to three years in prison by the Baku Court of Grave Crimes on 7 August, after having spent over a year in police detention since a protest against environmental damage caused by a goldmine near Soyudlu village in June 2023. Musayev claims that he was framed and that charges brought against him were poli

Residents of Soyudlu confront riot police at a protest against the nearby dumping of mine waste. Image via social media.

Azerbaijan

Azerbaijani Government greenlights expansion of Soyudlu acid mine drainage lake

by Aytan Farhadova

•2 min read

The Azerbaijani Government has greenlit the expansion of an artificial lake for acid mine drainage at a gold mine near the village of Soyudlu. The village remains under lockdown following the dispersal of protests there last year. Construction of a second lake was halted in 2023 and mining work suspended after footage was widely shared online of riot police clashing with local residents, including elderly women, who were protesting the plans. On Monday, British mining firm Anglo Asian Mining

An artificial lake used to drain acid from a goldmine near Soyudlu. Image via MeydanTV

Azerbaijan

Mining to be halted in Soyudlu after Aliyev threatens ‘provocateurs’

by Ismi Aghayev

•4 min read

Mining near Soyudlu village in western Azerbaijan will be halted, three weeks after protests that led to the village’s ongoing police lockdown. The announcement came a day after President Ilham Aliyev made his first public acknowledgement of the protests. Azerbaijan’s Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources, Mukhtar Babayev, on 12 July told local journalists that a ‘temporary suspension of operation’ had been agreed with the mining company. Babayev added that tests of air quality in the r

Police man a checkpoint at one of the entrances to the village of Soydlu. Image via Abzas.

Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan’s Soyudlu enters third week under police blockade

by Ismi Aghayev

•4 min read

The village of Soyudlu in western Azerbaijan remains locked down and closed to outsiders, over two weeks after police clashed with local people protesting against pollution. On 20–21 June, residents opposed to the dumping of waste from a nearby gold mine were confronted by riot police, who deployed tear gas and pepper spray, including at elderly residents. Local residents told OC Media that Soyudlu had remained closed to outsiders since, with police checkpoints set up at all entrances to

Azerbaijan

Podcast | Roadblocks and acid lakes: an Azerbaijani village under siege

by OC Media

•2 min read

The village of Soyudlu in western Azerbaijan was locked down by the police in late June after its residents protested environmental damage caused by a goldmine. The police’s response to the protests provoked outrage in Azerbaijan, with many activists criticising it for being disproportionate. This week, we spoke to Roya Malikzada a lawyer at Ecobill, an Azerbaijani environmental group that has been providing legal aid to people in Soyudlu, Elmaddin Shamilzade, a journalist

From left to right, activists Sanubar Heydarova, Narmin Shahmarzade, and Gulnara Mehdiyeva. Image via Abzas.

Azerbaijan

US Embassy security hand activists and journalist to Azerbaijani police

by Ismi Aghayev

•3 min read

Three feminist activists and one journalist were detained by security at the US Embassy in Baku and handed over to police after holding and live-streaming a peaceful protest against police brutality in Gadabay. The activists were attending an early Independence Day event at the US Embassy on 23 June. During the reception, Gulnara Mehdiyeva, Sanubar Heydarova, and Narmin Shahmarzade removed their scarves to reveal black hands drawn on their necks. They stood next to Azerbaijani MPs and ot