The criminal trial of Rufat Safarov, executive director of the Azerbaijani human rights organization Defense Line, is set to begin at the Baku Serious Crimes Court, where his case has been officially referred.
Safarov was arrested on December 3, 2024, and is facing charges under the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan:
- Article 127.2.3 – Intentional infliction of less serious bodily harm
- Article 178.3.2 – Fraud causing significant financial damage
- Article 221.1 – Hooliganism
According to the prosecution, Safarov allegedly took 60,000 AZN from a man named Natiq Imamguliyev in exchange for a plot of land in Novkhani, and later assaulted him during a dispute on December 3, 2014.
Safarov rejects the charges as fabricated. He says that on the day of his arrest, as he was returning home around 5:00 PM, a man attacked him in his garage, immediately followed by plainclothes police officers who handcuffed and detained him. He insists that he had never seen or interacted with Imamguliyev before that moment.
Despite being in detention, Safarov was honored on December 10, Human Rights Day, when then-U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken recognized him as a “Human Rights Defender of the Year.” Blinken noted that Safarov was unable to receive the award in person due to his politically motivated imprisonment.
Background:
Rufat Safarov previously worked as a senior legal advisor at the Ministry of Agriculture and later as an investigator for the Prosecutor’s Office. In December 2015, he publicly resigned from the Prosecutor’s Office in protest of widespread human rights violations and legal dysfunction in the country.
Following his resignation, his home was searched and he was arrested on separate charges, ultimately receiving a 9-year prison sentence. He was released early in March 2019 by presidential pardon.
After his release, Safarov co-founded Defense Line, where he became a prominent human rights advocate until his most recent arrest.
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