RAIL ABBASOV
Human rights defender, detained on dubious charges.
About Rail Abbasov
Rail Abbasov is a human rights activist from Azerbaijan known for his work in civil society. He was born on 26 June 1979 in Okhcuoglu village, Amasia district, Armenia. In 1985, Abbasov’s family moved to Stavropol, Russia, and in 1991 they returned to Baku, Azerbaijan. Abbasov graduated from Səbail District School No. 51 and later earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Ganja State University in 2000.
Alongside his professional career managing property transactions, Abbasov has long been involved in civic engagement and public initiatives. Since 2010, he has been a supporter and assistant of civic activist Bakhtiyar Hajiyev, contributing to his civic and advocacy work. Through these activities, Abbasov has actively promoted democratic values, political participation, and human rights in Azerbaijan.
Because of this activism, Abbasov faced increasing pressure from the authorities. After Bakhtiyar Hajiyev was arrested in December 2022, Abbasov launched a public campaign demanding his release. Prior to his own arrest in 2023, he had already been subjected to persecution by the government due to his continued support for Hajiyev and his involvement in civic activism.
Abbasov was called in for questioning by the police on 6 June 2023, and they searched his apartment. He was also called to testify in Hajiyev’s case. A few days before he was arrested, Abbasov wrote a petition to the head of state with the signatures of well-known public figures asking for Hajiyev’s release.[1] This is thought to have led to his arrest.
[1] chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https:/www.ipd-az.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/lpp1dec2023.pdf
Case description
On the morning of 19 September 2023, officers of the Nasimi District Police Department in Baku arrested Rail Abbasov.[1] At first, he was questioned as a witness, but later that night, a single citizen’s complaint led to his arrest as a suspect. Investigative authorities charged Abbasov with large-scale fraud (Criminal Code Article 178.3.2). The complaint said that Abbasov took 200,000 manats from the person who filed the complaint to “facilitate” a deal but did not give it back. Abbasov denied the charges, claiming they were based on the investigator’s “highly abstract assumptions” and the complainant’s claims that were not backed up.
On 20 September 2023, the Nasimi District Court put Abbasov in pre-trial detention for four months. This period was then extended several times, with an extra two months added on 18 January 2024.
In April 2024, the Baku Court of Grave Crimes opened a trial in his criminal case. During the preparatory hearing on 4 April 2024, the court rejected the motion by the lawyer requesting that Abbasov be placed under house arrest and kept him in custody.[2]
On 9 January 2025, the court convicted Rail Abbasov and sentenced him to six years and six months’ imprisonment.[3] He was sentenced to serve his term in a general regime penal institution. In his last statement, Abbasov strongly insisted that he was innocent and, by pointing to multiple inconsistencies in the case, said that the criminal charges were fabricated in retaliation for his public defence of Bakhtiyar Hajiyev.[4]
[1] https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/392654
[2] https://www.irfs.org/news-feed/court-refused-to-transfer-rail-abbasov-to-house-arrest/.
[3] https://www.eng.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/65666
[4] https://www.meydan.tv/en/article/activist-who-called-himself-bakhiyar-hajiyevs-hostage-sentenced-to-6-years-and-6-months-in-prison/
Resources about Rail Abbasov
All of the Campaign’s resources are created under Creative Commons License under CC0 conditions, meaning these resources are public dedication tools, with no copyright, put into the worldwide public domain.
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