On June 30, the preliminary hearing in the criminal case against human rights defender Rufat Safarov, executive director of the Defense Line human rights organization, was held at the Baku Serious Crimes Court under Judge Aygun Qurbanova.
During the hearing, Safarov’s lawyer Elchin Sadiqov submitted a motion requesting that his client be allowed to sit next to him instead of remaining in the glass defendant’s cage. The motion was granted.
However, another motion for Safarov to be released under house arrest was denied.
The next court session is scheduled for July 14.
Rufat Safarov was arrested on December 3, 2024, and is facing charges under several articles of Azerbaijan’s Criminal Code:
- 127.2.3 – Intentional infliction of less serious bodily harm,
- 178.3.2 – Fraud involving significant damage,
- 221.1 – Hooliganism.
The case alleges that Safarov took AZN 60,000 from a man named Natig Imamquliyev under the pretext of selling land in the Novkhani area and later assaulted him during a dispute on December 3, 2014.
Safarov rejects all charges, calling them fabricated. He maintains that he had never seen Imamquliyev before the incident. According to Safarov, as he was returning home around 5:00 PM and exiting his car in the garage, he was suddenly attacked by an unknown person. Immediately afterward, police officers stormed in and detained him.
Despite being behind bars, Rufat Safarov was honored on December 10 — International Human Rights Day — with the “Human Rights Defender of the Year” award by then-U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Blinken noted that Safarov was unable to receive the award in person because he was imprisoned for his human rights work.
Safarov previously worked as a chief legal adviser at the Ministry of Agriculture and later as an investigator in the Prosecutor’s Office. In December 2015, he resigned in protest against systemic human rights violations and the breakdown of rule of law in Azerbaijan.
Shortly after his resignation, his home was raided and criminal charges were filed against him. He was sentenced to 9 years in prison, but released early under a presidential pardon in March 2019.
Since then, Safarov has been actively engaged in human rights advocacy through his organization Defense Line.
English (UK) 
Azərbaycan dili