The appellate court upheld the refusal of opposition member Samir Ashurov for conditional early release.

The appellate court in Azerbaijan deemed the refusal of opposition member Samir Ashurov for conditional early release after serving two-thirds of his prison sentence to be lawful. The opposition member's wife called this decision politically motivated.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot", on March 29, 2022, member of the Azerbaijan Popular Front Party (APFP) Samir Ashurov was returned from Germany to his homeland, and in April of the same year, he was arrested on charges of assaulting a person. Later, investigators added a charge of hooliganism with the use of a weapon. Ashurov rejected all charges in court. On December 18, 2023, the court sentenced Ashurov to 6.5 years of imprisonment. The appellate court refused to acquit the convicted. In January, the cassation instance reduced Ashurov's sentence by six months, removing the charge of hooliganism.

In the Baku appellate court, Ashurov's appeal against the refusal of conditional early release after serving 2/3 of his prison sentence was considered, his wife informed the correspondent of "Caucasian Knot".

According to her, in April, four years have passed since the activist's arrest, which means two-thirds of the sentence.

"This meant that Samir had legal grounds for conditional early release. He applied to the court regarding this. However, the Khazar District Court of Azerbaijan denied him conditional early release. And on July 9, the Baku appellate court rejected his appeal against this decision," said Nurana Ashurova.

Since Samir was arrested on political orders, he is not released for political reasons.

She called the court's decision "political."

"In Azerbaijan, decisions made regarding political prisoners are not legal but political in nature. Since Samir was arrested on political orders, he is not released for political reasons," Ashurova noted.

She also noted that in the colony, her husband, who suffers from diabetes, lung, and heart diseases, still does not receive effective medical assistance.

However, this does not work for political prisoners. If there is no instruction from "above," they are guaranteed to be denied.

As noted by one of the Baku lawyers, "although the application of the conditional early release mechanism in Azerbaijan is a fairly common practice, it generally does not work for political prisoners."

"Wealthy prisoners, or those with 'good connections' often manage to take advantage of conditional early release. Prison administrations give them positive characteristics, naturally not selflessly, and prosecutors and judges do not remain uncompensated. However, this does not work for political prisoners. If there is no instruction from 'above,' they are guaranteed to be denied. At the same time, many pretexts can be given – 'violation of discipline,' 'conflict with other prisoners,' 'disobedience to guards,'" said this expert on condition of anonymity.

An employee of the Baku appellate court confirmed the information about the rejection of S. Ashurov's appeal.

It was not possible to obtain comments from the Penitentiary Service. Recall that in November 2025, six prisoners from Baku Colony No. 2, including Samir Ashurov (investigative journalist Hafiz Babaly, economist Fazil Gasimov, trade union activist Afiyaddin Mamedov, activist Lachin Veliev, and members of the Azerbaijan Popular Front Party Mehman Aliyev and Samir Ashurov), announced the creation of the "Committee for the Protection of Political Prisoners." They explained this decision by stating that violations of human rights and freedoms in Azerbaijan "have reached a critical level and have become systematic."

After the committee was created, its organizers began to face pressure. In particular, Samir Ashurov received threats, and Lachin Veliev was transferred to another colony, where he was subjected to beatings and insults from law enforcement officers.