In Azerbaijan, number of those charged within case of grants for NGO activists reaches 10

In Azerbaijan, four other activists have been charged in the case of receiving grants. Akhmed Mamedzade has been taken into custody, Aitadj Agazade has been arrested in absentia, and Galib Bairamov and Nargiz Mukhtarova have been placed under police surveillance. The number of case figurants has reached 10.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on March 14, 2025, Bashir Suleimanly, the head of the Human Rights Institute, and Mamed Mamedzade, the head of the Alliance for Election Observation, were arrested in Azerbaijan on charges of financial crimes. Their arrest has to do with the resumption of criminal proceedings within the case initiated against local and foreign NGOs launched in 2014. On similar charges, Subkhan Gasanli, the head of the Social Rights Centre, was put on the wanted list, and Khafiz Gasanov, the head of the “Law and Development” organization, was placed under house arrest. On April 9, Asef Akhmedov, the head of the Ganja Regional Community Centre, and Zamin Zyaki, a social expert, were also arrested on same charges.

Aitadj Agazade, an activist, was accused of receiving about USD 50,000 from the Marshall Fund in the form of an "unregistered grant," the “Abzas Media” has reported.

Nargiz Mukhtarova, a gender activist, Galib Bairamov, the head of the Centre for Economic Relations, and Akhmed Mamedzade, an activist, were also charged in the case. Mukhtarova and Bairamov were placed under police surveillance, and Mamedzade was arrested.

Nargiz was placed under police surveillance despite the fact that she has a baby, while her husband, Farid Mekhralizade, was arrested within the “Abzas Media” case. "Family repressions" are becoming a trend, since Galib Bairamov, the head of the Centre for Economic Studies, has been charged; and he is a brother of Gubad Ibadoglu, a famous scientist, who is also currently under police surveillance, human rights defenders have noted.

The source did not rule out that the number of case figurants will increase. "Investigators are summoning all those who collaborated with Western donors, especially with the USAID," he has emphasized.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on February 6, 2025, the Azeri Govt terminated the activities of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in the country.