FAMIL KHALILOV

About Famil Khalilov

Famil Khalilov, born on 14 July 1990 in Shirvan city, Azerbaijan, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy after a birth injury and has been classified as permanently disabled since 1993. Both his arms are paralysed, and he typically keeps his hands tied behind his back to maintain balance.

In 2011, Khalilov married and later moved to Sweden in 2015, where he had two more children. Despite his efforts to gain residency, his application was ultimately rejected. On 25 July 2023, he was deported back to Azerbaijan.

Famil Khalilov is an outspoken critic of the Azerbaijani government, particularly through videos and posts on his social media accounts. Due to his paralysis, he uses his feet to operate a computer, which his wife demonstrated with video evidence.

Khalilov was detained on 2 May 2024 and arrested two days later under Article 234.4.3 of Azerbaijan’s Criminal Code, which envisages a potential sentence of five to twelve years in prison for the acquisition, transportation, and storage of large amounts of drugs for sale.

Case description

Initially, Famil Khalilov was detained on 2 May 2024. On 4 May, the authorities arrested him under charges of drug possession with intent to sell. He was arrested after police allegedly found drugs in his home. His wife claims police officers planted the evidence. If found guilty, he can face up to 12 years’ prison sentence.

The authorities claim that police received information that Khalilov was involved in drug trafficking, and during a search of his home in the Binagadi district, drugs were allegedly found in a tissue inside a drawer.

His wife, Kichikkhanim Khalilova, also stated that their rented home in Sulutepe, Baku, never had drugs. She believes they were planted by the police: “We never even had tissues in that colour in the house. The police brought it, placed it, and then took it. Later, at the police station, they asked me why I allowed my husband to write such things online. I responded that Famil never said anything untrue.”

Famil Khalilov has consistently denied the charges, alleging they were fabricated by authorities in retaliation for his critical social media posts against the government. Khalilov, who has cerebral palsy and paralysed arms, faced significant health complications in the Baku Detention Centre. He required constant assistance for basic tasks.

On 28 November 2024, after a previous hunger strike was unsuccessful, Khalilov began a dry hunger strike to protest his detention. Following his hunger strike, on 3 December 2024, a court transferred him to house arrest. Because of his hunger strikes to protest imprisonment, his health deteriorated.

On 6 February 2025, Khalilov was found guilty, but the court amended the charge to simple drug possession. He received a 3-year conditional sentence with a 2-year probation period. Khalilov and his legal team stated their intent to appeal the verdict, arguing that the charges were baseless.

Famil Khalilov is not the only activist to be arrested on drug charges after being deported from a country where they sought political asylum. Before his arrest, five other political and social activists – Jafar Mirzayev, Punhan Karimli, Malik Rzayev, Mutallim Orujov and Samir Ashurov – were similarly detained shortly after being deported from Germany. All five are currently serving prison sentences and claim their arrests were retaliatory actions for protesting against human rights violations and for critical posts on social media.