Azerbaijani researcher and freelance journalist Bahruz Samadov has been detained on treason charges since August 2024.
Samadov is one of at least 16 journalists and media workers — 15 of whom CPJ reported on in November and one whose case was confirmed in mid-December — that Azerbaijan has charged with serious crimes between late 2023 and December 1, 2024, in a major crackdown on the independent press and civil society.
Samadov, who is a prominent peace activist, has contributed to English-language regional media, including Georgia-based OC Media and U.S.-based Eurasianet.
On August 21, 2024, officers from Azerbaijan’s State Security Service arrested Samadov, a doctoral student in the Czech Republic, during a trip to Azerbaijan to visit family and searched his family home in the capital, Baku, citing a drug inquiry. On August 23, a Baku court ordered him to be held in pre-trial detention for four months on treason charges, which carry a potential life sentence, according to Azerbaijan’s criminal code.
Samadov’s lawyer, Zibeyda Sadygova, told CPJ that authorities accuse Samadov of passing unspecified information to Armenia, which has been involved in a protracted military conflict with Azerbaijan. Samadov denies the charges, she said, adding that Samadov did not have access to any sensitive data.
A video report by pro-government media, reportedly using information from authorities’ investigation, denounced Samadov as an anti-war activist and accused him of writing “subversive and biased” articles for the “anti-Azerbaijan” Eurasianet.
Rustam Ismayilbayli, a friend of Samadov’s, told CPJ that he believes Samadov was targeted both as a prominent advocate of a peaceful resolution of Azerbaijan’s conflict with Armenia and for his journalism, which includes columns on Azerbaijani militarism and authoritarianism.
In early November 2024, Samadov began a hunger strike to protest the charges against him.
CPJ emailed the State Security Service and the Penitentiary Service of Azerbaijan for comment on Samadov’s detention in early January 2025 but did not receive any replies.