Azerbaijani activist Mustafayev reported threats to extend his imprisonment

In Azerbaijan, trade union activist Elvin Mustafayev was threatened by correctional facility management with a new criminal case to delay his release.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," a Baku court partially granted the request of the correctional facility management and ordered Elvin Mustafayev to be sent to a closed prison for six months. The activist stated in court that he was framed in order to achieve a harsher sentence.

Mustafayev is being pressured by the administration of Correctional Facility No. 17, where he is serving his sentence, according to a report from the Confederation of Trade Unions "Working Platform" received by a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Deputy head of the prison, Samit Gafarov, threatened Mustafayev with a new criminal case to prevent his release at the end of his sentence, the release further noted.

The reason for the pressure on Mustafayev was his protests against the lack of proper medical care for opposition politician Tofig Yagublu, who is serving his sentence in Correctional Facility No. 17, according to a report from the trade union organization.

The information about the threats to the activist in the prison was confirmed to a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. node" and his father, Ali Mustafayev. According to him, there are less than two months left until the end of Elvin's sentence.

“There are less than two months left until the end of Elvin's sentence. The activist is scheduled to be released on August 4. But we fear that a provocation could be organized against him in the colony in order to open a new case and keep him in prison,” the activist's father noted.

A Baku lawyer specializing in the protection of the rights of arrested activists and journalists pointed to precedents in Azerbaijan where “new cases were opened in politically motivated cases shortly before the end of their terms in order to extend prison sentences.”

“There have been many such cases in Azerbaijan. At one time, new cases were opened literally weeks or months before release against blogger Mehman Huseynov, former Minister of Health Ali Insanov, ex-deputy Guseyn Abdullaev, opposition member Mamed Ibrahim. Usually, the pretext for opening a new case is such methods as instigating “violence against a guard” or planting a prohibited object, for example, a knife. By the way, Abdullaev is still in prison on a new case, and Mamed Ibrahim was again imprisoned in November 2025,” a lawyer who did not wish to publish his name said in a conversation with a “Caucasian Knot” correspondent.

As the “Caucasian Knot” wrote, at the end of December 2025, opposition activist Lachin Veliev also complained about violence in colony No. 17 , and a year earlier, a member of the “Muslim” movement unity" Bakhtiyar Babashov.