The arbitrary arrest and sentencing of academics Bahruz Samadov and Igbal Abilov in Azerbaijan

MEPs denounce both the Azerbaijani authorities’ misuse of national security provisions as tools for judicial harassment and the criminalisation of freedom of expression, peace advocacy and public criticism in the country.

They call for the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners, including Bahruz Samadov, a PhD student at Charles University, and Igbal Abilov, a Talysh ethnic minority researcher and editor-in-chief of Talysh National Academy News. MEPs also denounce the unjust and arbitrary sentencing of two other academics, Gubad Ibadoghlu and Fazil Gasimov, and condemn in the strongest possible terms the arrest of Ali Karimli, prominent opposition leader, on 1 December 2025.

MEPs want appropriate measures within the EU global human rights sanctions regime to be taken against the officials responsible and stress that, as stated in Parliament’s previous…