TOFIG YAGUBLU

About Tofig Yagublu

Tofig Yagublu was born on 6 February 1961 in Bolnisi district, Georgia. He graduated from the Azerbaijan State University of Economics and joined the Azerbaijani Popular Front Party after its establishment in 1989. From 1992 to 1993, Yagublu served as the deputy head of the Binagadi District Executive Power. He joined the Musavat Party in 1992 and served as its deputy chairman from 2010 to 2018. He has also been a member of the Coordination Centre of the National Council of Democratic Forces since its formation in 2013.

On 14 December 2023, the 64-year-old politician was imprisoned on criminal charges for the third time. Yagublu was first arrested in 1998, during the presidential election in Azerbaijan, on charges of resisting police. Despite his claims that the charges were fabricated and that his arrest was politically motivated, the court sentenced him to a two-year suspended sentence.

The second criminal case, in January 2013, related to mass protests in the Ismayilli district of Azerbaijan. Yagublu stated that he had gone to Ismayilli as a correspondent for the newspaper Yeni Musavat. However, he was accused of organising the protests, and was arrested along with politician Ilgar Mammadov, chairman of the Republican Alternative Party (ReAl), and sentenced to five years in prison.

In April 2015, while Yagublu was in prison, his 26-year-old daughter, Nargiz Yagublu, passed away. He was released in March 2016 under a presidential pardon.

Yagublu was arrested again on 22 March 2020 on charges of hooliganism after a car accident that he allegedly caused. However, he denied the allegations, stating that his vehicle had been deliberately struck. Despite recording the incident and handing the footage to the police, he was sentenced to four years and three months in prison. The Baku Court of Appeal released him under house arrest on 18 September 2020 while reviewing his appeal, and ultimately reduced his sentence to a suspended one.

On 3 September 2020, the Nizami District Court sentenced Tofig Yagublu to four years and three months in prison. He began a hunger strike the same day. A few days later, he was transferred to a private hospital due to his deteriorating health. The Baku Court of Appeal released him under house arrest while reviewing his appeal, and ultimately reduced his sentence to a suspended one.

His latest arrest in December 2023 included charges for fraud causing large-scale damage and forgery of documents or their use (Articles 178.3.2 and 320 of Azerbaijan’s Criminal Code). It is alleged that Elshan Huseynov, who wanted to travel to Germany and obtain citizenship there, gave Yagublu €25,000 and ₼10,000 (approx. €5,200) through a third party (Elnur Mammadov).

Yagublu denied the charges, calling them fabricated. He claims that both Elshan Huseynov and Elnur Mammadov are individuals the police use for various provocations, that he did not know Elshan Huseynov at all, and that Elnur Mammadov had only contacted him via Facebook a month before his arrest. Mammadov later greeted and took a photo with Yagublu at the Narimanov District Court during the trial of anti-corruption advocate Professor Gubad Ibadoglu. However, Yagublu believes these events were staged to collect “evidence” for a provocation against him.

Tofig Yagublu has also been detained and sentenced to multiple thirty-day administrative detentions for allegedly disobeying police orders after his participation in protests in October 2019, December 2021, and December 2022.

The protest in December 2021 related to the hunger strike of Saleh Rustamli, a member of the Azerbaijani Popular Front Party. Video footage showed that Yagublu was unharmed when police took him away at approximately 3pm. However, by 9pm, he was found with his eyes bruised in a deserted area approximately eighty kilometres outside of Baku. He reported that he had been beaten at the police station before being taken to an unknown location where he continued to be tortured.

Yagublu’s lawyer filed a complaint with the prosecutor’s office, requesting access to the security footage from the police station. However, the prosecutor’s office refused to investigate, concluding that Yagublu had injured himself by hitting his head and body against the walls of the station and vehicle.

To date, Tofig Yagublu is currently being held at the Baku Detention Center while his case is being heard in the Baku Court of Grave Crimes.