MOHYEDDIN ORUJOV
Civil and labour rights activist; imprisoned under bogus charges
About Mohyeddin Orujov
Mohyeddin Orujov is an Azerbaijani civil rights activist and a member of the Workers’ Table Confederation of Trade Unions (WTUC). He was born on 08 March 2000.
Orujev worked as a warehouseman at a transformer factory and often complained about labour rights violations. Because of this, he was subjected to harassment and persecution. One instance of his persecution occurred in October 2023, when he was summoned to the 32nd police station in the Surakhani District, allegedly for criticising President Ilham Aliyev in a social media post. The police reportedly directly stated that they summoned him due to his criticism of Aliyev.
Following his police summoning, on 18 October 2023, Orujev was arrested and subsequently sentenced by the Surakhani District Court to 30 days of administrative arrest. The official administrative charges included petty hooliganism and resisting the police. The court claimed he had cursed in the street and refused to obey police orders, but his relatives maintained he was called to the police station.1,2
During this administrative detention, Orujov’s brother reported experiencing harassment and beatings at the police station. Following his release, Orujov publicly reported that he had been subjected to police violence and inhumane treatment at the 32nd police station.
Case description
Shortly after speaking out about the police violence in connection with his administrative arrest, Orujov was detained again on 13 December 2023 under criminal charges of large-scale drug trafficking (Criminal Code Article 234.4.3). Orujov’s family was not informed of his arrest, and his whereabouts were initially unknown for some time.
On 15 December 2023, the Surakhani District Court remanded Orujov to four months of pre-trial detention. Orujov’s pre-trial detention was extended several times.
Orujov and his family alleged that during detention, he was beaten, threatened, and coerced by police to admit guilt to the drug charges, which they maintained were false and that the drugs were planted. Orujov blamed the head of the 32nd police station for his arrest, claiming the drug charges were in retaliation for his earlier complaints about the law enforcement’s violent actions during his October 2023 arrest.3
While in pre-trial detention, Orujov was held in a prison cell built for ten people but containing 19 inmates. The cramped cell, lack of adequate ventilation, and otherwise problematic prison conditions worsened his existing kidney condition. He suffers from an enlarged kidney and kidney crystals. His mother also complained about limitations on his phone calls. The Baku Appeal Court later overturned the first-instance court decision and restored his right to phone calls and family visits to prison. The family’s requests for adequate inpatient medical treatment were disregarded by both the prison administration and the court.4
Orujov’s trial began on 24 July 2024 at the Baku Court of Serious Crimes. Despite the prosecutor requesting a seven-year sentence and arguing that the intent to sell drugs had been proven, on 25 February 2025 Orujov was sentenced to three years in prison. Although the final verdict excluded the initial claims that Orujov allegedly intended to sell the drugs, the judge also rejected his lawyer’s objections, claiming the inconsistency in police footage of the arrest, where the video time was approximately 19:00, but the official detention paperwork listed the time of Orujov’s arrest as around 13:00.5
On 10 April 2025, the Baku Court of Appeal upheld the trial verdict and ordered Orujov to remain in custody. The defence’s motion to change the preventive measure to house arrest due to his deteriorating health was rejected.6
References
- https://oc-media.org/azerbaijani-activist-giver-30-day-sentence-for-criticising-president-online/
- https://www.instituteforhumanrights.org/az/team/mohyeddin-orucov
- https://monitor.civicus.org/explore/one-month-after-the-start-of-the-azerbaijani-offensive-20-arrested-for-speaking-out-against-nagorno-karabakh-war/
- https://www.meydan.tv/en/article/friday-wrap-up-construction-budget-a-mother-denied-contact-and-an-eu-concern/
- https://oc-media.org/azerbaijani-labour-activist-sentenced-to-three-years-in-prison-on-drug-charges/
- https://www.irfs.org/az/news-feed/azerbaijani-activist-orujov-left-in-custody/
Resources about Mohyeddin Orujov
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