Azer Agaqasim oglu Qasimli – director of the Institute of Political Management, political scientist Date of arrest: 8 December 2024 Charge: Article 182.2.3 (Extortion, is requirement to transfer another's property or right on property or commitment of other actions which is admitted as in property nature under threat of application of violence, distribution of data, dishonoring a victim or his close relatives, as well as by threat of destruction of property belonging to them, committed with application of violence) of the Criminal Code of the Azerbaijan Republic.
On 9 December 2024, the Baku City Yasamal District Court issued a ruling: to apply a preventive measure against Azer Qasimli in the form of arrest for a period of 4 months.
The period of detention in custody during the investigation has been subsequently extended times Sentence: On 11 March 2026, the Baku City Court for Serious Crimes sentenced to 12 years in prison Judge: Telman Qasimov Place of detention: Pre-trial Detention Center at the Umbaki settlement in Baku City Qaradaq District Conclusion: Azer Qasimli is a well-known political activist in Azerbaijan, for a long time he was one of the leaders of the ‘Republican Alternative’ (ReAl) party that he left in 2019, after which he became the Director of the public organisation, Institute of Political Management.
In recent years, and especially in 2024, Azer Qasimli has repeatedly criticised the Azerbaijani domestic and foreign 72 policy.
In his social media posts and interviews he explained the new wave of journalists‘ and civil society activists’ arrests as a reversal of Azerbaijan's foreign policy towards alignment with the Kremlin.
On 22 November 2024, when leaving Baku, the border guards did not let Azer Qasimli out of the country, referring to the Ministry of Internal Affairs ruling.
At that time, Qasimli said that he had to fly out of Baku to visit first Prague and then Berlin.
However, the authorities at the border checkpoint said that the Interior Ministry had imposed a ban on his departure from the country, but they did not provide any reasons for it.
On 25 November 2024, he was summoned to the Baku City Main Police Department, where he was interrogated as a witness in a number of criminal cases.
At the same time, the reason for the ban to leave the country was not clarified to him.
After the interrogation, Azer Qasimli said that his arrest was forthcoming.
But he had no intention to cease criticising the authorities' repressive policy.
He commented very actively on the large-scale arrests in the country in early December.
In particular, on 6 December 2024, Azer Qasimli condemned the arrest of human rights defender Rufat Safarov in an interview with ‘Turan’ Agency, and also pointed out that the Azerbaijani authorities are systematically dismantling all democratic institutions in the country and destroying independent media.
There is no more parliamentarism in Azerbaijan.
The authorities want the country to be governed as it was in the Soviet Union or as it is in Turkmenistan.
The goal of the Azerbaijani authorities is ‘to prevent the establishment of democracy in the South Caucasus’.
The very same day, Azer Qasimli said in his interview to the opposition Internet resource ‘Mikroskop Media’ that ‘Azerbaijan has ranked next to Russia,’ it was said in connection to the Meydan TV journalists' arrests.
The authorities reacted immediately: he was detained on 8 December 2024.
Following the court’s ruling, lawyer Aqil Layij described the case as fabricated.
He told journalists: “As Azer Qasimli himself stated in his final statement, this case has no legal basis.
In essence, Azar Gasimli is not an accused person but a victim, since his money was misappropriated by the person recognised as the victim.
Azer Qasimli stated that he was arrested due to his socio-political activities and critical publications.
Notably, when Azer Qasimli asked the victim when he would return his money, the latter simply remained silent.” Rovshana Rahimova, the other attorney, also pointed to the lack of evidence proving Qasimli’s guilt: “For more than a year of judicial proceedings against Azer Qasimli, only one piece of evidence was provided, and it is the victim’s testimony, Qurbanali Yusibov’s testimony.
Both during the pre-trial investigation and in court, a number of prosecution witnesses were testifying.
Some of them claimed that Azer Qasimli had threatened Yusibov.
However, these witnesses admitted that they neither saw nor heard personally how Azer Qasimli allegedly threatened Yusibov.
They heard about it only from the victim.” The lawyer noted that the indictment alleges that the political analyst threatened Yusibov with killing his father and abducting his son: “These claims are not supported by any evidence.
Azer Qasimli sought to influence Qurbanali Yusibov to recover his money solely through lawful means.
Qasimli filed a civil claim against him, and during its рассмотрение Yusibov acknowledged that he owed him money.
Qasimli repeatedly wrote to Yusibov stating that he would file complaints against him with the court and the police.
It is absolutely illogical that Azer Qasimli would threaten Yusibov with killing his father and abducting his son at a time when he was asserting his rights in court through a civil claim.” 73 Samira Qasimli, the political analyst’s spouse, stated that in January 2022 Yusibov gave a written undertaking that he would repay the debt to her husband in monthly instalments.
However, Yusibov later left the country and stopped communicating with Azer Qasimli, who filed a claim that was upheld by the Mingachevir City Court in April 2024.
As Samira Qasimli noted: “Nevertheless, at the end of 2024 Azer was arrested on false charges of extortion allegedly involving threats.
The true reason of his arrest is his political views and criticism of the policies of the Azerbaijani authorities.” In response, on 19 April 2026, encouraged by the court’s ruling, Q.
Yusibov filed a claim against Samira Gasimli, seeking to have her held liable for defamation.
