International Academic Community Calls for the Release of Young Azerbaijani Scholar Bahruz Samadov

Three international research organizations and over 10 scholars from various countries have signed a petition expressing their "deepest concern" over the arrest of Bahruz Samedov in Azerbaijan on charges of treason and are calling for his immediate release.

“Bahruz Samadov is a doctoral student at the Faculty of Social Sciences of Charles University in Prague. On 21 August 2024, when he was visiting Baku, Samadov was detained by Azerbaijan’s State Security Service. On 23 August 2024, it became known that he had been charged with 'high treason' and that he would remain imprisoned during (at least) a 4-month pre-trial detention. Based on the limited information available, the accusations appear to be directly related to Samadov's research and advocacy interests in peace in the South Caucasus and his meetings with Armenian counterparts at civil society and academic fora.

We are deeply concerned by Samadov’s detention, and by the accusation of treason. We understand this as an attempt to stifle the ongoing peace-building efforts in the South Caucasus, and to silence critical voices that oppose violence and war. We find this unacceptable and at odds with the government’s discourse about progress towards peace. We are equally concerned about the recent upsurge in arrests and prosecutions of other researchers, activists and journalists in Azerbaijan. We join the call of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and of PEN America to release the 23 journalists and media workers unjustly imprisoned in Azerbaijan in the run-up to the UN Climate Change Conference (or COP29), as well as academic researchers and peace activists such as Bahruz Samadov.

With this letter we call on the government of Azerbaijan to immediately release Bahruz Samadov and other political prisoners in Azerbaijan from detention and to respect their human rights.

We call on the Czech Republic, where Bahruz Samadov resides and works, the European Union, and other countries in Europe and beyond, to make strong and immediate efforts towards the release of Bahruz Samadov and other political prisoners in Azerbaijan.

We call on Charles University to closely monitor the situation with Bahruz Samadov and provide him with necessary support.

We call on the COP29 International Advisory Committee, but also all COP29 participants (in particular researchers), to keep the detention of Bahruz Samadov and other imprisoned Azerbaijani researchers, activists and journalists on the agenda when visiting Baku in November 2024,” the letter reads.