ANAR ABDULLA
Co-founder and director of the Institute of Political Management, detained on dubious charges.
About Azer Gasimli
Azer Gasimli is a political scientist. He was born in Baku, Azerbaijan, on March 31, 1975. He received a Bachelor’s degree with distinction from the Institute of Social Management and Political Sciences. Later, he graduated from Marmara University with a Master’s degree and a PhD in Politics from Moscow State University, where he defended his thesis on ‘The Formation of the Political Regime in Azerbaijan.’
In 2021, Gasimli co-founded a Baku-based think tank, the Institute of Political Management, and served as its director. Gasimli was a member of the Musavat Party before joining the Republican Alternative Party (REAL). From 2011 to 2019, he served as a board member and Chairperson of the Party Assembly. During his time with REAL, he was a key figure, notably organising the 2018 Republican March, which led to his administrative imprisonment in a case later acknowledged by the Government of Azerbaijan before the ECtHR as a violation of his rights.
In 2019, he resigned from REAL due to disagreements over the party’s direction and ran for office as an unaffiliated candidate. Apart from his political activities, Gasimli was a regular guest of the national and international media and commented on current affairs.
On 22 November 2024, Gasimli was banned from leaving the country and on 25 November 2024, he was interrogated by police as a suspected witness in several criminal cases.1
Case description
On 8 December 2024, Gasimli was detained and subsequently remanded for four months on charges of extortion by threats with the use of violence (Criminal Code Article 182.2.3). The detention was based on a complaint filed just one day prior by Gurbanali Yusibov, who owned Qasımlı Money. Although the debt had already been acknowledged to be repaid in a civil court ruling, a pre-existing debt dispute was used as a pretext for Gasimli’s criminal persecution.2
The indictment, officially published in July 2025, claimed Gasimli allegedly got into a conflict with Yusifov and threatened to kill him and his family members while demanding USD 45,000. Gasimli denied the charges in court, stating that he himself was the victim of fraud and that the charges were fabricated and politically motivated due to his sharp and consistent criticism of the Azerbaijani regime’s domestic and foreign policies.3
In May 2025, the court denied Azer Gasimli’s motion to replace his pre-trial detention with house arrest. As of January 2026, his trial is ongoing in the Baku Court on Grave Crimes.4,5
References
- https://jam-news.net/oppositionist-arrested-in-azerbaijan-on-extortion-charges/
- https://oc-media.org/azar-gasimli-was-sentenced-to-four-months-of-pre-trial-detention-after-being-detained-on-charges-of-extortion/
- https://www.eng.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/66599
- https://www.instituteforhumanrights.org/post/court-denies-azar-gasimli-s-request-for-house-arrest
- https://humanrightsaz.com/en/political-analyst-azer-gasimli-rejects-charges-as-trial-continues/
Resources about Azer Gasimli
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