Bahruz Samadov – public activist Date of arrest: 21 August 2024 Charge: Article 274 (High treason) of the Criminal Code of the Azerbaijan Republic. On 23 August 2024, the Baku City Sabayil District Court sentenced Bahruz Samadov to 4 months in a pre-trial detention center. Bahruz Samadov did not plead guilty to the charge, saying at the trial that he had never committed any treason against his country. He further added that he has been always a peace- loving person, practising Christianity and that the faith encourages peacefulness. He just wanted peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia and he had analysed the problems of both sides in his studies. Sentence: On 23 June 2025, the Baku City Court for Serious Crimes sentenced to 15 years in prison Judge: Elnur Nuriyev Place of detention: Pre-trial Detention Center at the Umbaki settlement in Baku City Qaradaq District Conclusion: Bahruz Samadov, a young scholar and PhD student at the Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic, has been known for his pacifist views and advocated for peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia. In foreign media and analytical publications, he is also known for publishing critical articles and commentaries against the Azerbaijani authorities. Having arrived at his holiday in Azerbaijan, he was about to leave for Prague. Before his flight, in the evening of 21 August 2024, he stepped out of his house to meet up with his friend. According to his grandmother, Zubeyda Osmanova, “Half an hour later, five or six people came to our house, they introduced themselves as officers of the State Security Service and said that they had received a complaint against Bahruz, accusing him in drug dealing. They searched the house and confiscated Bahruz's computer, his passport, two diplomas issued in foreign universities, a book in English containing Bahruz' article. They did not find any drugs”. Later, she received a call from a lawyer who introduced herself as Vafa, informing her that Samadov had been suspected of “state treason” and that his correspondence with Armenians had been revealed and in which he had allegedly been commissioned by them to write those articles. For almost two days the police neither confirmed nor denied the fact of B.Samadov's detention nor responded to requests of his relatives, friends and lawyer, Zubeida Sadigova, who had been hired by the family. The latter also submitted her own documents to the Baku City Sabayil 96 District Court in order to be notified if B.Samadov was brought to that facility. In fact, she was able to meet with her client two days later at the trial, where B.Samadov stated that he had been subjected to abuse by the investigator for those couple of days. After which the Court ordered the Prosecutor's Office to investigate the matter. On 19 June 2025, Bahruz Samadov went on a dry hunger strike in protest against the trial and the charges of high treason brought against him. Two days later, Bahruz Samadov attempted suicide in the pre-trial detention centre in order to protest against the State Prosecutor's demand to sentence him to 16 years imprisonment. According to his grandmother who visited him on 21 June 2025, "We were not allowed to talk privately, there was a warden nearby the entire period of time. We had been talking in his presence for just 10 minutes. Bahruz said that he decided to commit suicide following the prosecutor's speech at the trial. A fellow inmate saved him at the very last moment.”