Namizad Safarov – lawyer and human rights activist Date of arrest: 9 December 2025 Charge: Article 178.3.2 (Swindle, that is maintaining another persons property or buying another persons property by a deceit or breach of confidence, committed by organized group) of the Criminal Code of the Azerbaijan Republic.
On 11 December 2025, the Baku City Khatai District Court issued a ruling: to apply a preventive measure against Namizad Safarov in the form of arrest for a period of 4 months.
On 14 April 2026, the Baku City Khatai District Court extended his term of detention for another 3 months.
Place of detention: Pre-trial Detention Center № 1 at the Kyurdakhani settlement in Baku City Sabunchu District Conclusion: Namizad Safarov, a legal professional and human rights activist, former lawyer, well-known for his active civic stance, was detained by unidentified individuals in civilian clothes on the 9 December 2025, in the afternoon, and taken away to an unknown location.
That information was provided by his relative.
Later, the pro-government media said that the reason for his detention was ‘a complaint about fraud.’ At a closed court hearing on 11 December 2025, the official charges were: according to the investigation, N.
Safarov convinced a citizen who had been fired from his workplace that he could get him re-employed, and under that pretext received 53,000 manats ($31,200), but he did not fulfil his promise and embezzled the money.
Then, the man turned to the police. 43 However, Safarov's fellow lawyers link his arrest to his active civic stance, as well as his social and human rights activities, resulting in his expulsion from the Bar Association in 2005, despite having worked as a lawyer since the early 1990s.
But that fact did not stop N.
Safarov, who became even more active in socio-political activities, and in 2013, participated in the establishment of the National Council of Azerbaijan Democratic Forces.
In 2019, after a car accident involving a human rights defender Oqtay Gulyalyev who had been seriously injured, N.
Safarov became the Committee Against Repression and Torture temporary coordinator that nowadays has ceased its activities.
N.
Safarov was also a co-founder of the NGO ‘Azerbaijani Lawyers Forum,’ that was denied registration by the authorities.
The persecution of N.
Safarov intensified when, in 2024, he became a member of the ‘Azerbaijani People's Parliament’ created by the exiled political émigrés, greatly irritating the authorities.
Bue the real reason for his arrest was Namizad Safarov's interview on 2 December 2025, that was given to the opposition Osmanqizi TV channel, that he used to harshly criticise the Azerbaijani authorities policies and openly declared that the arrest of APFP chairman Ali Karimli had been illegal.
