Human Rights

Prisoner of Conscience: Anar Mammadli

In April 2024 prominent Azerbaijani human rights defender Anar Mammadli was detained by masked men while picking up his child from kindergarten and forced into an unmarked vehicle. Following his detention, police searched his home and those of his family members, allegedly planting money to support charges of money smuggling.

Mammadli, who heads the independent Election Monitoring and Democracy Studies Centre, has long been a target of state pressure. During the February 2024 presidential elections, he and his organization faced an intense smear campaign in state-controlled media. He is also a co-founder of the Climate of Justice Initiative, a new civil society coalition promoting environmental justice as Azerbaijan prepares to host the 29th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29).

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) swiftly condemned his arrest. PACE rapporteurs said that "We urge the Azerbaijani authorities to review this case immediately and ensure that Mr Mammadli is not subjected to criminal prosecution as a result of his valuable human rights work".

Numerous local and international human rights organizations have signed petitions demanding his immediate release, denouncing the charges as politically motivated.

This is not Mammadli's first encounter with politically motivated prosecution. In late 2013, he was sentenced to five and a half years in prison on charges of tax evasion, illegal entrepreneurship, and abuse of office. While imprisoned, he received PACE's prestigious Václav Havel Human Rights Prize in 2014 for his outstanding contributions to civil society. Though pardoned two years later, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruled in 2018 that his detention had been politically motivated.

Mammadli's arrest represents the latest example of Azerbaijan's systematic repression of critical voices. The state has imprisoned around a dozen journalists on similar money smuggling charges, while President Aliyev's administration has prosecuted numerous opposition politicians, academics, activists, and media professionals.

Civil society organizations estimate that Azerbaijan currently holds more than 300 political prisoners.

Prisoners of Conscience

Prisoners of Conscience from East and Southeast Europe

We feature select few prisoners of conscience out of the many in East and Southeast Europe. One political prisoner is one too many. 

Find out who the other political prisoners are #PrisonersofConscience  #FreeThemAll and in the special Focus on our website.