On August 21 2024, our colleague Bahruz Samadov, a political science PhD candidate at Charles University in Prague was arrested and detained by Azerbaijan’s State Security Service. Samadov is now being held in pre-trial detention and faces up to 20 years in prison on charges brought against him under article 274 of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan, which covers the actions “committed by a citizen of the Azerbaijan Republic to detriment of the sovereignty, territorial integrity, state security or defensibility of the Azerbaijan Republic”. In practical terms, Samadov is being charged with treason, because his academic and journalistic writings have upset the Azerbaijani regime.

Samadov's doctoral research at Charles University focuses on authoritarianism and political discourses in Azerbaijan. He has been known for his critical and timely analyses of Azerbaijani current affairs, including developments surrounding the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, which have appeared on various international media outlets. Samadov has also consistently and vocally advocated for peace with Armenia. You can read an article by Samadov in the Caucasus Analytical Digest here: ssoar.info/ssoar/handle/document/89908#...

The government’s crackdown on journalists, independent thinkers and activists has been intensifying in Azerbaijan for the past few years, since the country’s military victory against Armenia in the Second Karabakh war in November 2020. Since November 2023, following Azerbaijan’s military recapturing of Nagorno-Karabakh, the government has arrested more than a dozen journalists from independent media outlets including Absaz Media, Kanal 13 and Toplum TV. The prospect of COP29, due to take place in the country in November 2024, has prompted the Azerbaijani regime to resort to radical measures to silence critique and criticism by arresting and detaining students and researchers, some of whom are also peace activists.

Gubad Ibadoghlu (economist) was arrested on July 23 2023 and detained. He was placed under house arrest on April 22 2024.

Fazil Gasimov (economist) was arrested in Turkey on August 7 2023 and extradited to Azerbaijan where he is detained in connection with the case of Gubad Ibadoghlu. He is currently conducting a hunger strike in prison.

Farid Mehralizade (economist) was kidnapped and detained on May 30 2024.

Igbal Abilov (ethnographer and Talysh cultural activist) was detained on July 22 2024.

Bahruz Samadov (political scientist) was detained on August 21 2024.

Azerbaijani researchers put themselves at risk every day in order to produce public knowledge on one of the world’s most authoritarian states. In a country where academic freedoms are not respected, social scientists, historians and economists are antagonized by the authorities and constructed as the enemy. Their work is essential and, with that of independent journalists, constitutes one of the rare remaining links that bring Azerbaijan to the world and the world to Azerbaijan.

The arbitrary arrest and detention of members of the academic community is incompatible with Azerbaijan’s international commitments and it is a durable stain on the country’s reputation. We believe in the value of producing independent research on Azerbaijan and do not want to see the country become a blank spot on the global knowledge map. We stand in solidarity with Bahruz Samadov and other Azerbaijani scholars who were unjustly detained simply in light of their academic activities.

We call on the Azerbaijani government to respect academic freedoms, cease its targeting of students, researchers and journalists and release Bahruz Samadov and all remaining political and academic prisoners.

We call on the newly elected Members of the European Parliament to speak out against Bahruz Samadov’s detention and focus their diplomatic activity in the South Caucasus on demanding his release, together with all remaining academic and political prisoners in Azerbaijan.

We call on the future European commissioners-designate, specifically the office of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy / Vice President of the Commission and the office of the Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement, to unequivocally uphold their commitment to human rights and fundamental freedoms in their relations with Azerbaijan and to engage the Azerbaijani government to end the persecution of students, researchers and journalists.

We call on the heads of academic institutions and on members of the academic community in the European Union to take action to ensure the protection of Azerbaijani students and researchers who face threats to their liberty, well-being and lives and to support this statement.