AKIF GURBANOV

About Akif Gurbanov

Akif Gurbanov was born on 3 August 1981, in Sagarejo district, Georgia. Later, his family moved to Azerbaijan. He graduated from the Faculty of Preventive Medicine at the Azerbaijan Medical University in 2006. In 2008, Gurbanov graduated from the Baku Political Knowledges school, which operated under the auspices of the Council of Europe. Between 2013 and 2016, he earned a second bachelor’s degree in law from the Karazin Kharkiv National University.

Akif Gurbanov is one of three nominees for the 2024 Václav Havel Human Rights Prize of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

Akif Gurbanov began his political activities whilst a student, joining the Umid Party in 2002. Between 2002 and 2005, he served as the party’s Deputy Chair for Youth Affairs, and in 2005 and 2006, he led the party’s Central Election Headquarters.

Following this, Akif Gurbanov was appointed a member of the Central Election Commission (CEC) based on the Umid Party’s nomination and served in this role for 10 years. In November 2015, during the parliamentary elections, he publicly criticized the elections for not meeting international standards, pointing to the imprisonment and pressure on civil society members and the ignored evidence about election fraud. As a result, he refused to sign the final minutes of the Central Election Commission on the parliamentary election.

In 2013, he founded the Institute for Democratic Initiatives (IDI), an organisation that significantly contributed to training young journalists and human rights defenders.

Gurbanov has also actively participated in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) processes. In 2016, he was elected as a member of the Board of the NGO Coalition for Increasing Transparency in the Extractive Industries, which comprised over 100 organisations. However, on 9 March 2017, the Global EITI Board suspended Azerbaijan’s status due to issues related to the civil society environment, after which the Azerbaijani government withdrew from the initiative.

In February 2016, as Azerbaijan’s socio-economic and political crisis deepened, Akif Gurbanov became one of the co-founders and active participants of the Civil Society Platform (CSP), an initiative aimed at uniting civil society activities and broadening its influence on ongoing processes.

On 7 December 2023, the III Republic Platform was founded as a political movement advocating for democratic transition, good governance, and decentralisation. Akif Gurbanov was one of the founding Board members of the Platform and was elected as the moderator for a one-year term to represent the Platform and facilitate decision-making.

About two weeks after the announcement of the III Republic Platform, Gurbanov revealed that he was being followed and feared possible arrest. On 23 December 2023, one of the Platform’s founding members, Araz Aliyev, a lecturer at Baku State University, was arrested on charges of failing to comply with a lawful police order and was sentenced to 23 days of administrative detention.

On 6 March 2024, Akif Gurbanov and other members of the Platform’s Governing Board, including Ruslan Izzatli and “Toplum TV” co-founder Alasgar Mammadli, were arrested in connection with a joint criminal case. They were charged under Article 206.3.2 of the Criminal Code (smuggling committed by a group in prior collusion).

Akif Gurbanov denies the charges, asserting that they are fabricated and that he is being punished for his political activities. He has also reported facing threats and pressure while in detention.

To date, his case remains under investigation by the Main Police Department of Baku City, and in addition to his arrest, his property has been seized