Namizad Safarov denied transfer to house arrest

A Baku court rejected all motions by Namizad Safarov's defense at a preparatory hearing, refusing to transfer the 72-year-old human rights activist to house arrest. Safarov categorically denied the fraud charges, and the defense pointed to clear signs of falsification in his case.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot", lawyer and human rights activist, former attorney Namizad Safarov, known for his active civic stance, was detained in Azerbaijan on December 9. Pro-government media named Safarov as a fraud suspect. The "People's Parliament of Azerbaijan," created in 2024 by Azerbaijani political emigrants abroad, of which Safarov became a member, condemned his detention and called the case against him political persecution. On December 11, the court sent him to pretrial detention for four months, and on April 14, Safarov's arrest was extended for another three months.

On June 18, the Baku Court of Grave Crimes held a preparatory hearing in the case of lawyer and human rights activist Namizad Safarov. The lawyers petitioned for the criminal case to be dismissed, human rights activist Hilal Mammadov, a member of the Committee for the Protection of Civil Society and a member of the Committee for the Protection of Civil Society, told a Caucasian Knot correspondent.

If the first motion was denied, Safarov's defense also requested that the defendant be placed under house arrest, taking into account his 72-year-old age and serious health issues.

"Namizad Safarov himself vehemently denied the fraud charges brought against him, calling the case completely fabricated and a set-up. The case materials allege that Namizad Safarov defrauded a woman, charging her 53,000 manat (over $31,000) for employment and then failing to return the money. However, Namizad Safarov stated in court that he did not even know this person. On the other hand, the woman doesn't even have an education: where, as Safarov himself asked, could he have found her a high-paying job? Furthermore, the case contains no evidence that Safarov had any contact with the "victim"—no phone conversations or correspondence. Another nonsense in this case is that the complaint against Safarov was filed after his arrest, and this is recorded in the case file. This fact alone was sufficient for the court to release Namizad Safarov," Mamedov said.

The court denied any of the motions and scheduled a hearing on the merits for July 2.

One of Safarov's lawyers also pointed out the lack of legal grounds for criminal prosecution of the lawyer and "obvious falsifications in the case."

"A complaint against Namizad Safarov was filed with the Ministry of Internal Affairs' 102 hotline several hours after his arrest. He was detained at 12:00 p.m., at noon, and the call to 102 was received at 2:26 p.m. The victim's complaint against Safarov was filed with the 18th precinct of the Narimanov District Police Department in Baku at 2:03 p.m. In reality, a complaint to the police is filed after calling 102—it is the hotline that tells a citizen which police station to officially contact. "And already at 5:00 PM, the investigation began. Why the rush? This is a murder-related crime. The investigator should have conducted an investigation before starting the investigation. "And anyway, how did the police know there would be a complaint against Safarov so they could detain him in advance?" asked a lawyer who did not wish to be named.

An employee of the Baku Court of Grave Crimes confirmed to the "Caucasian Knot" that a preparatory hearing had been held in Safarov's case. Representatives of the prosecution were unavailable for comment.

The "Caucasian Knot" also reported that human rights activists have recognized Safarov as a political prisoner. Safarov has defended the rights of ordinary citizens for many years and is known for his integrity, so the accusation of embezzlement is absurd, Jamil Hasanli, head of the National Council of Democratic Forces, previously stated. In his opinion, the arrest is related to the lawyer's civic and critical position and may be politically motivated, like the cases of other activists.