Overcrowding in Azerbaijan's prisons is linked to harsh court decisions.
Azerbaijan is among the Council of Europe countries with one of the highest prison population ratios, and prison occupancy rates are close to critical, according to the Council's annual report "Prisons and Prisoners in Europe" for 2025. Harsh court decisions and a virtually non-functional parole system lead to prison overcrowding, human rights activists noted.
As "Caucasian Knot" reported, the amnesty act, which came into force in December 2025, had been applied to 18,203 people as of March 31, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Justice reported on April 3. According to the ministry, 5,310 people were released from further serving their sentences in prisons, and another 10,226 from non-custodial sentences. In addition, 2,648 convicted individuals had their prison sentences reduced by six months.
On December 15, 2025, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev submitted an amnesty act to parliament. The initiative is timed to coincide with the "Year of Constitution and Sovereignty" declared in Azerbaijan in 2025 and the restoration of the country's sovereignty over its entire territory, authorities stated. Parliament adopted the corresponding law. Local activists welcomed the amnesty initiative, but noted that it will not resolve the problem of political prisoners.
Prison occupancy in Azerbaijan is assessed as "close to critical"
On May 19, the Council of Europe (CoE) published its report "Prisons and Prisoners in Europe" for 2025, which provides statistical data on the penitentiary systems of countries across the continent. Azerbaijan is among the leaders in terms of the ratio of prisoners to the total population.
According to the document, as of January 31, 2025, there were 271 prisoners in Azerbaijani penitentiary institutions for every 100,000 residents. Turkey remains the absolute leader in this indicator (458 prisoners per 100,000 people). Moldova (245), Georgia (232), and Hungary (206) also round out the top five.
The report's authors state that prison overcrowding in Europe is becoming a systemic crisis. Meanwhile, in Azerbaijan, the prison occupancy rate is assessed as "close to critical"—98 prisoners per 100 places.
The study identified a number of specific features of the Azerbaijani penitentiary system against the backdrop of pan-European trends. For example, the share of foreigners among prisoners in Azerbaijan is only 2.2%, which is one of the lowest rates in the Council of Europe; only Romania (1.1%) and Moldova (1.9%) have lower rates. By comparison, in Luxembourg and Switzerland, the proportion of foreigners in prison is 78% and 73%, respectively.
Azerbaijan also has low rates for women in prison. Women in Azerbaijan account for 3.1% of the total prison population (lower rates are recorded only in Albania, Armenia, and Montenegro, note the report's authors), while the European average for this figure increased from 4.8% to 5.2% over the year.
Experts cite the aging prison population as one of the main challenges for the European prison system: the proportion of prisoners over 65 has increased to 2.9% over the past five years, placing additional strain on the healthcare and social services sectors. Drug-related crimes (17.3%) and theft (12.1%) are the leading crimes across Europe. Approximately a third of the total number of convicts are serving sentences for violent crimes.
Human rights activists linked the problem to the peculiarities of judicial practice in Azerbaijan
Commenting on the Council of Europe study, Azerbaijani lawyer and member of the country's Bar Association Javad Javadov noted that the statistics likely did not take into account the latest Amnesty Act, which was implemented mainly between January and April 2026, and according to the Ministry of Justice, more than five thousand people were released from prison.
One of the main reasons is the courts' preference for punishment in the form of actual imprisonment and pretrial detention, although arrest should be the most extreme measure.
"But even taking this into account, the prison population in Azerbaijan remains very high. The problem cannot be solved solely by amnesties or one-off humanitarian acts such as pardons. Even with such a large-scale amnesty, the country remains among Europe's leaders in prison populations. This demonstrates a systemic problem with criminal policy, judicial practice, and the approach to imprisonment. One of the main reasons is the courts' preference for punishment in the form of actual imprisonment and pretrial detention, although arrest should be the most extreme measure. In practice, it often becomes the primary tool in the pretrial prosecution of defendants," Dzhavadov told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. The expert cited the very limited use of parole as another reason for prison overcrowding. "Multi-level oversight has developed in this area: the position of the penitentiary institution, the need for approval from various authorities, informal agreements (with higher authorities - Caucasian Knot note), and additional prosecutorial oversight. As a result, even when the formal parole period begins, individuals often fail to be released. Thus, the institution of parole does not become an effective mechanism for reducing the prison population and reducing pressure on the penitentiary system," Javadov said.
He believes that prison overcrowding in Azerbaijan is a systemic problem that affects prison conditions. According to him, international recommendations emphasize expanding alternatives to imprisonment and developing early release mechanisms, rather than one-off amnesties.
In Javadov's opinion, without changes to judicial practice and the approach to sentencing, it will be difficult to reduce prison overcrowding in the country.
Penitentiary institutions, especially pretrial detention centers, often lack space, cells are overcrowded, and people sleep in shifts. This leads to an increase in illnesses, and the penitentiary system is also unable to cope with medical care.
Elshan Gasanov, head of the Center for Monitoring Political Prisoners, also believes that prison sentences, although alternative punishments are provided, create overcrowding in prisons and overburden the penitentiary system, which creates problems for both prisoners and staff.
"Penitentiary institutions, especially pretrial detention centers, often lack space, cells are overcrowded, and people sleep in shifts. This leads to an increase in illnesses, and the penitentiary system is also unable to cope with medical care. The large number of prisoners creates difficulties in escorting and transporting prisoners to courts and other institutions due to a lack of transport and staffing," the human rights activist told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.
The Penitentiary Service was unable to comment.