The court in Baku sentenced human rights defender Mamedli and activist Abdulla to long terms.
The Baku Serious Crimes Court sentenced human rights defender Anar Mamedli to 13 years in prison, and activist Anar Abdulla to 12 years. Their lawyers stated that the prosecution was politically motivated and lacked credible evidence of guilt.
As reported by "Caucasian Knot", on September 22, 2025, at a court session in Baku, the head of the Election Monitoring and Democracy Training Center, Anar Mamedli, compared his case to the practices of Soviet repression. On July 24, the prosecution requested 14 years in prison for Anar Mamedli and 13 years for Anar Abdulla.
Anar Mamedli was detained in Baku on April 29, 2024, and arrested on charges of smuggling in connection with the case of employees of the Abzas Media publication. Later, his case was separated into a separate proceeding. In May 2025, new charges were brought against Mamedli: illegal entrepreneurship, legalization of illegally obtained property, tax evasion as part of an organized group, and document forgery. The case has been sent to court, and the defense insists on Mamedli's innocence. Freelance journalist Anar Abdulla (Abdullaev) is also accused in Mamedli's case.
Today, at the Baku Serious Crimes Court, the verdict was announced in the case of Anar Mamedli and Anar Abdulla after the final speeches of the lawyers and the defendants themselves.
The panel of judges, chaired by Judge Aigun Gurbanova, sentenced Mamedli to 13 years in prison and Abdulla to 12 years, reported an activist observing the process to the correspondent of "Caucasian Knot". According to the court's verdict, Mamedli will serve his sentence in a strict regime colony, while Abdulla will serve in a general regime colony.
"Both Anar Mamedli and Anar Abdulla stated the absurdity of the charges and pointed to the political motives behind their prosecution for their public and human rights activities. Anar pointed out that the main reason for his arrest was the election monitoring that revealed legal violations. He reminded that he had once been wrongfully convicted and imprisoned, but the European Court of Human Rights recognized his arrest as unlawful. Anar Abdulla also noted that he was engaged in human rights work and reported on human rights violations in the media. The lawyers also pointed out the lack of credible evidence of guilt," the activist said.
Anar Mamedli's lawyer, Elchin Sadigov, stated that the defense would appeal the verdict. "The court proceedings did not prove Anar Mamedli's guilt. We pointed out the inconsistency of all the charges. A person was accused of smuggling, while he always presented customs declarations when crossing the customs border. It is unclear what 'money laundering' is being referred to. The accusation is based on subjective interpretations," Sadigov told the correspondent of "Caucasian Knot".
Abdulla's lawyer, Gunay Ismayilova, also stated the defense's intention to appeal the verdict.
An employee of the Baku Serious Crimes Court confirmed the information about the verdict to the correspondent of "Caucasian Knot".
The prosecution of Anar Mamedli aims to silence him and punish him as a civil society activist, previously stated the rapporteur on political prisoners of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Azadeh Rozhan. Activists of the international campaign to end repression in Azerbaijan also called for the release of the human rights defender ahead of the second anniversary of Anar Mamedli's arrest.