Politics Azerbaijan: Political prisoners ask EU Commission for help
A group of political prisoners in the oil-rich Caucasus republic of Azerbaijan has called on the EU Commission to exert more pressure on the country's leadership to enforce respect for human rights.
25.02.2026, 15:37
SDA
In an open letter to EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the authors complain about the government's interference in the judiciary in order to punish critics of the authoritarian President Ilham Aliyev. "We are deeply disappointed that the European Parliament's resolution on the human rights situation in Azerbaijan remains on paper and that the EU Commission is not using its options to solve the problem of political prisoners in the country", the letter states, according to the portal "Kavkaski Usel".
Among those who signed the letter are journalists Chafis Babaly and Mechman Aliyev, who have been imprisoned in a penal colony for years. While Baku is striving for rapprochement with Brussels, the government is taking tough domestic political action against disagreeable journalists, academics and representatives of civil society and the opposition, the letter continues.
Harsh repression against the opposition
President Aliyev's rule is "repressive", Samara Seyidova confirmed the accusations to the German Press Agency. Seyidova is the wife of opposition leader Ali Karimli, who has been in custody for months. "We have no freedom of expression, even for critical comments on social networks, people can be imprisoned for 20 or 30 days." There are 340 political prisoners in Azerbaijan. Of these, 24 are journalists.
Seyidova's husband is accused of allegedly planning a coup d'état with Russian help. The accusations are "false and ridiculous", as Karimli is a Western-oriented politician who also opposed the policies of Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin during the Ukraine war, she said.
How the trial against her husband would continue also depended on the European countries, said Seyidova. The opposition's hopes are based on the EU and the USA urging Aliyev to uphold the rule of law, free elections and more democracy.
In December, the European Parliament passed a resolution criticizing the persecution and imprisonment of political opponents of President Ilham Aliyev, calling for their release and calling on the EU leadership to impose sanctions on officials in Azerbaijan involved in the repression.
