On Azerbaijan, the arbitrary arrest and sentencing of academics Bahruz Samadov and Igbal Abilov

B100576/2025

European Parliament resolution on Azerbaijan, the arbitrary arrest and sentencing of academics Bahruz Samadov and Igbal Abilov

(2025/3028(RSP))

The European Parliament,

having regard to its previous resolutions on Azerbaijan;

having regard to Rules 150(5) and 136(4) of its Rules of Procedure;

A. whereas Azerbaijani authorities have been continuously reducing space for civil society, arbitrarily closing down non-governmental organisations and arresting or forcing into exile political opponents, journalists, researchers, civil society representatives;

B. whereas Bahruz Samadov, a researcher at Charles University in Prague, was sentenced on 23 June 2025 to 15 years’ imprisonment on baseless charges of high treason;

C. whereas historian Igbal Abilov was sentenced on 20 May 2025 to 18 years’ imprisonment on charges including high treason and incitement of ethnic hatred,

1. Denounces the sentencing of Bahruz Samadov, a researcher at Charles University in Prague and a long-standing advocate for peace with Armenia, to 15 years’ imprisonment on baseless charges of high treason;

2. Is deeply alarmed by reports of his hunger strike, suicide attempt and deteriorating mental and physical health, as well as by the denial of contact with his family and chosen legal counsel during his detention;

3. Recalls with grave concern the 18-year sentence handed down to Talysh minority historian Igbal Abilov, whose academic research on ethnic minorities was distorted into accusations of high treason and “foreign-instructed” anti-state appeals;

4. Expresses its preoccupation for the unjust detention of researcher Fazil Gasimov’s and for the lack of transparent legal process; deplores that his detention reflects a broader pattern of intimidation against scholars, threatening academic freedom and discouraging open inquiry;

5. Further recalls the case of renowned economist Dr. Gubad Ibadoghlu, still under house arrest;

6. Welcomes and strongly supports the calls made by UN human-rights experts, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and leading human-rights NGOs for the immediate release of Samadov, Abilov and all other political prisoners in Azerbaijan;

7. Expresses particular alarm at the misuse of national-security provisions, transforming them in tools for judicial harassment, intimidation and reprisals in order to criminalise scholarly collaboration, advocacy for peace, minority-rights work, and independent political analysis;

8. Stresses that equating academic research or criticism of government policies with treason constitutes a direct attack on academic freedom and freedom of expression;

9. Calls on Azerbaijan to respect and align its laws to the international human-rights obligations and standards;

10. Reaffirms its long-standing call for the imposition of targeted EU sanctions under the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime against Azerbaijani officials responsible for these abuses, including prosecutors, judges, and security-service officials implicated in politically motivated investigations, torture, denial of due process and unfair trials;

11. Reiterates its position that any EU-Azerbaijan partnership agreement - including on energy - must be strongly conditional on respect for fundamental rights and the release of all political prisoners and calls again on the Commission to suspend the 2022 Memorandum of Understanding on a Strategic Partnership in the Field of Energy;

12.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the VP/HR, Member States and the President, Government and Parliam