Release wrongfully imprisoned PhD student Bahruz Samadov

Scholars at Risk sent the below letter to Azerbaijani authorities, urging them to secure the immediate release of Mr. Bahruz Samadov. Take action by signing a letter here.

Via email

The Honorable Ilham Aliyev
President of Azerbaijan

May 21, 2025
RE: Release wrongfully imprisoned PhD student Bahruz Samadov
Your Excellency:

I write on behalf of Scholars at Risk to respectfully urge you to secure the immediate release of Bahruz Samadov, a PhD student at Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic, and freelance journalist and researcher who has been wrongfully detained in Azerbaijan on charges of “high treason” in apparent retaliation for his research on military involvement in a regional conflict. If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison.

Scholars at Risk (SAR) is an international network of more than 600 universities and colleges in over 40 countries dedicated to protecting the human rights of scholars around the world, and to raising awareness, understanding of, and respect for the principles of academic freedom and its constituent freedoms of expression, opinion, thought, association, and travel.

Bahruz Samadov is an Azerbaijani PhD student in the political science department at Charles University of Prague and a freelance political analyst. He is also a well-regarded researcher, having published articles across numerous platforms including OC Media, the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR), Baku Research Institute, the Institute for International Political Studies, and the International Journal of Politics.

SAR understands that on the evening of August 21, 2024, Azerbaijani security forces entered Mr. Samadov’s grandmother’s house, where he was staying while on summer break from university, and arrested him. Police reportedly told Mr. Samadov’s grandmother that Mr. Samadov was suspected of engaging in illegal drug activities. On August 24, the Baku court updated Mr. Samadov’s charges to “high treason” and remanded him to four months of pretrial detention. The court alleged that Mr. Samadov had provided sensitive information to Armenia, an act that violated Article 274 of Azerbaijan’s Criminal Code, which prohibits actions that jeopardize “the sovereignty, territorial integrity, state security or defensibility of the Azerbaijan Republic.” Human rights organizations suggest that these charges stem from Mr. Samadov’s research on the use of military forces in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and connections with Armenian activists. SAR further understands that on December 19, the Baku Sabail District Court extended Mr. Samadov’s pre-trial detention for an additional four months, and that on January 22, 2025, the court denied his petition to be moved to house arrest.

We welcome any additional information that may clarify our understanding of these events. Absent this, the facts appear to indicate that Mr. Samadov was arrested and charged as a result of his peaceful exercise of the rights to academic freedom and freedom of expression–conduct that is expressly protected by international human rights instruments including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Azerbaijan is a party. Any charges for what we can only assume–absent clear public evidence from the state–to be nonviolent expressive conduct is clearly excessive and contrary to international standards. Detentions and prosecutions in connection to scholarly activity raise serious concerns about protection for free expression, academic freedom, and the higher education space in Azerbaijan.

We therefore respectfully urge you to secure Mr. Samadov’s immediate and unconditional release and, pending this, to publicly disclose the circumstances of his detention and charges, ensure his access to family, and guarantee that his case proceeds in a manner consistent with internationally recognized standards of due process, fair trial, and detention, in accordance with Azerbaijan’s obligations under international law.

We appreciate your attention to this important matter and look forward to your reply.

Sincerely,

Robert Quinn
Executive Director

CC:

Colonel-General Eyvazov Vilayat Süleymanoğlu
Minister of Internal Affairs

The Honorable Khazar Ibrahim
Ambassador of Azerbaijan to the United States

The Honorable Yashar Aliyev
Permanent Mission of Azerbaijan to the United Nations

The Honorable António Guterres
Secretary-General of the United Nations

The Honorable Volker Türk
High Commissioner for Human Rights

The Honorable Michael O’Flaherty
Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe

The Honorable Marco Rubio
Secretary of State
U.S. Department of State