Azerbaijan activist Nijat Ibrahim held in solitary confinement for 26 days

An Azerbaijani activist has been held in solitary confinement for 26 days without family contact, his lawyer and relatives have said.

Nijat Ibrahim, who is serving a six-and-a-half-year prison sentence, was last allowed to speak to his family on 6 June.

His wife, Parvin Ibrahimova, told the Azerbaijani service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) that the lack of information had led them to fear he was dead.

"We thought he was either in a coma or that something had happened to him," Ms Ibrahimova said.

She added that the family had repeatedly contacted the country's Penitentiary Service and the human rights Ombudsman but received no response.

His lawyer, Zibeyda Sadiqova, visited him at Prison No. 10 on 1 July, confirming that he was alive, though his telephone privileges have not yet been restored.

"I have requested that the prison administration allow Nijat Ibrahim to contact his family," Ms Sadiqova said.

It remains unclear how much longer he will remain in the disciplinary cell.

Azerbaijan's Penitentiary Service did not comment on Mr Ibrahim's situation, but has previously insisted that the legal rights of all detainees in its facilities are fully respected.

Mr Ibrahim was arrested on 9 September 2024 and later convicted of stabbing a man named Bahman Aliyev.

The activist strongly denies the charges, maintaining that he was set up by police after he threatened to commit suicide outside the Ministry of Internal Affairs when he and his family were barred from leaving the country.

It is not the first time Mr Ibrahim has been imprisoned.

In July 2020, he was arrested while heading to a protest outside the Presidential Administration calling for the resignation of President Ilham Aliyev. He was subsequently sentenced to 15 months in prison on charges of spreading Covid-19.

Mr Ibrahim has previously protested against police treatment by going on hunger strike and sewing his mouth shut.

Local human rights organisations estimate there are currently 328 political prisoners in Azerbaijan.

In recent years, several other prominent public and political figures have been jailed on similar charges of assault or stabbing in public spaces.

These include former diplomat Emin Ibrahimov, members of the Azerbaijan Popular Front Party (APFP) Zamin Salayev and Kenan Zeynalov, trade union leader Afiaddin Mammadov, and activist Ahmad Mammadli.

All have maintained their innocence, stating that the charges against them were fabricated to silence political dissent.

Officials in Baku routinely deny that there are political prisoners in the country, asserting that those arrested have been prosecuted for specific criminal offences rather than their political activities.