Rufat Safarov pressurised to refuse US State Department award

Before his arrest, human rights defender Rufat Safarov was pressurised to give up an award of the US State Department. This is stated in Safarov's appeal, published on the account of the human rights defender in Facebook.

According to the activist, he was demanded to do it publicly.

Safarov notes that the pressure on him began back in August 2024, when it became known that he was nominated for the US State Department's ‘Authoritative Human Rights Defender’ award and is the main contender for this award.

‘Repeatedly, messages were conveyed from the Presidential administration through my father about the need to publicly decline the award. However, I could not do so, for this one was a global assessment of my work.

It was the question of the award that angered the authorities and authorised my arrest. But I once again declare from the pre-trial detention centre that I will continue my fight against powerlessness,’ Safarov emphasised.

He recalls that he has been repeatedly threatened since he started his human rights activities in 2019.

‘When I first started my activities, I was summoned to the Investigation Department of the Prosecutor General's Office and demanded to stop human rights activities. But I could not keep silent when a diplomat was tortured with electric current, a young activist urinated, female journalists imprisoned. Therefore, I will continue my activities,’ Safarov said.

As a reminder, Rufat Safarov was detained on 3 December. He was charged under three Articles of the Criminal Code - 178.3.2 (fraud committed with large-scale damage), 221.1 (hooliganism) and 127.2.3 (deliberate infliction of less serious harm to health, in a generally dangerous way or out of hooliganism). The next day the court arrested him for four months.

Safarov denied the charges, claiming that he was persecuted for his human rights activities and the US State Department award.