Bakhtiyar Hajiyev sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment

On 13 January, the Baku Court for Serious Crimes sentenced public activist Bakhtiyar Hajiyev to 10 years of imprisonment.

The court also ruled to confiscate his flat and money in his bank accounts and ban him from educational work for 1 year after his release.

Hajiyev called the verdict politically motivated. All the charges brought against him were legally refuted. As for the charges of hooliganism, they were fabricated on the basis of a complaint by Ulviya Alovlu, who fulfilled the orders of ‘her handlers in power’.

All other economic accusations Hajiyev called absurd. They are based on an anonymous E-mail that he allegedly receives grants from Western organisations and plans to carry out a coup d'état in Azerbaijan.

Hajiyev called these accusations ‘absolutely fictitious’. The activist believes that the real reason for his arrest is his active work on imposing sanctions against human rights violators in Azerbaijan.

He pointed out that he was arrested immediately after targeted sanctions had been imposed against an employee of the Interior Ministry's Main Department for Combating Organised Crime.

Hajiyev expressed gratitude for the support of his family, journalists (especially those under arrest), as well as international structures - the US State Department, Congress, EU, PACE, Council of Europe, European Parliament.

At the same time, he singled out the contribution to his defence by Rufat Safarov, who himself found himself behind bars.

‘Rufat Safarov defended human rights to the last. He showed that the main thing is not position and privileges, but the work on conscience and defence of human rights,’ Hajiyev said.

*Bakhtiyar Hajiyev was arrested in December 2022 on charges of hooliganism and contempt of court.

On 16 June last year, the activist was charged with new charges related to financial irregularities - misappropriation of grants. He was also charged with illegal entrepreneurship, money laundering, smuggling and using forged documents.

In November of the same year, another charge was brought against him - non-payment of taxes.

Hajiyev himself and his colleagues consider the trial to be a political order, the reason for which was Hajiyev's harsh criticism of the activities of the Azerbaijani Interior Ministry and, in particular, of Minister Vilayat Eyvazov himself.