EMIN IBRAHIMOV
Former diplomat imprisoned for protesting human rights violations and criticizing the government.
About Emin Ibrahimov
Emin Ibrahimov was born in 1981 in Sumgayit, Azerbaijan. After earning his bachelor’s degree from Baku State University’s Faculty of International Relations in 2002, he went on to get a master’s degree from Dalarna University in Sweden and Ankara University in Turkey. He started working as an attaché at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Azerbaijan in 2007 after passing the civil service examination. In 2009, he completed a senior course at the NATO Defence College.
From 2012 to 2016, Ibrahimov held the position of head of the secretariat at the Embassy of Azerbaijan, USA, and from 2016 and 2019, he served as the chargé d’affaires at Azerbaijan’s mission in Uruguay.
On 3 March 2020, after thirteen years of diplomatic service, Ibrahimov resigned in protest against human rights violations and election fraud in Azerbaijan. In his resignation letter, he stated that the collapse of the electoral system, erosion of political legitimacy, and systemic suppression of freedoms created severe moral dilemmas for him as a diplomat. He specified that the recent parliamentary “elections” were the “final straw,” compelling him to request his removal from the service.
After his resignation, Emin Ibrahimov became involved in public activities, using his social media accounts to criticise the Azerbaijani government’s pro-Russian policies and express his opposition to human rights violations in the country.
Emin Ibrahimov was arrested on 19 September 2023, a day after posting on Facebook about the recent military operations in Karabakh.
The Prosecutor General’s Office of Azerbaijan prepared materials alleging that Ibrahimov had shared thoughts supporting terrorism and submitted them to the court. Ibrahimov, however, claimed the charges were fabricated and believed he was being punished for his posts about Russia’s perceived interest in the Karabakh operations.
Despite his claims, the Yasamal District Court in Baku sentenced Ibrahimov to thirty days of administrative detention. The basis for this sentence was Article 388-1.1.1 of Azerbaijan’s Code of Administrative Offences, which prohibits posting certain information online.
Not long after his release, Ibrahimov was detained again on 22 July 2024, and this time, under criminal charges.
Case description
The investigation alleged that Ibrahimov had injured a person named Kamal Shukurov with a knife near the Khalglar Dostlughu metro station. He was charged under Criminal Code Article 126.2.4 (intentional infliction of grievous bodily harm with hooligan motives) and Article 221.1 (hooliganism). On 24 July 2024, the Nizami district Court of Baku City remanded Ibrahimov to four months pretrial detention.
Ibrahimov added that after being detained, he was taken to the 24th Police Department of Nizami district, where he was subjected to torture, electric shocks, and even threatened with rape. The demand was to obtain the password to his phone.
The former diplomat denied the charges, claiming they were fabricated and that the incident had been staged. At the court, he stated, “I am a victim of the dictatorship regime”. Ibrahimov explained that he had been heading to an apartment near the metro station on 22 July 2024 due to repairs in his apartment, when someone suddenly attacked him, attempting to tear his clothes. Police officers in plain clothes appeared shortly after and arrested Ibrahimov.
Following his arrest and four-month pre-trial detention in July 2024, Ibrahimov started a hunger strike to protest his detention, though he later decided to stop it for 20 days after requests from family and friends.
In April 2025, the Baku court convicted Ibrahimov to seven years in prison for intentionally causing grievous bodily harm and dropped the hooliganism charge.
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