Azerbaijan targets exiled critics with 'in absentia' trials, HRW says

Azerbaijan has used newly introduced "in absentia" trials to prosecute and convict exiled government critics over their online posts, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said.

In a report released on Wednesday 10 June 2026, the rights group said Baku's heavy crimes courts had handed down prison sentences ranging from six to 16 years to Azerbaijani citizens living in Europe and the US.

The convictions are being used as a tool for "transnational repression" to target activists beyond the country's borders, the group warned.

"Azerbaijan's message is that leaving the country will not protect critics from retaliation," said Giorgi Gogia, HRW’s deputy director for Europe and Central Asia.

"European governments must ensure these convictions do not become a tool for transnational repression."

The mechanism for trials in absentia was first introduced to the country's Criminal Procedure Code through legislative amendments in December 2023.

According to HRW, the legal framework has allowed Azerbaijani courts to turn peaceful online commentary into severe criminal convictions.

Baku can then use these verdicts as the legal basis to issue extradition requests, seek detentions during international travel, or confiscate assets, the report said.

Among the cases highlighted was that of Altay Goyushov, a prominent historian and scholar living in France, who was sentenced to six years in prison in February.

His prosecution for making public calls to seize power relied on a YouTube broadcast from 2020 and two Facebook posts from 2024 and 2025, which discussed public protests in Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, and Ukraine.

On the same day, New York-based political analyst Arastun Orujlu was sentenced to eight years on similar charges after posting YouTube videos suggesting the government should either respond to public demands or resign.

Another case involved seven activists living across Germany, France, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and the UK, who received sentences ranging from nine to 14 years in December 2025.

The rights group said that in all the cases it examined, courts relied heavily on "linguistic expert opinions" provided by Azerbaijan's Ministry of Justice.

These state-run evaluations frequently classified routine political commentary and criticism of the government as incitement to violence, riots, or terrorism.

HRW described the assessments as "inherently flawed" because they failed to meet international standards for defining incitement.

The report also noted that state-appointed defence lawyers failed to challenge the prosecution’s evidence, and in most cases had no contact with the defendants they were supposed to represent.

While Azerbaijani law allows those convicted in absentia to request a retrial upon return, HRW argued this offers no real safeguard as defendants would face immediate detention in a flawed judicial system.

Azerbaijani authorities have consistently denied accusations of human rights abuses, regularly dismissing reports by international watchdogs as biased.

However, local and international rights groups estimate there are currently 328 political prisoners in the country, a category the government does not recognise.

Over the past decade, a systemic crackdown on independent journalists, civil society, and opposition figures has forced many critics into exile.

HRW urged European nations and other international partners to scrutinise any Azerbaijani extradition requests and ensure their asylum systems protect exiled dissidents from politically motivated prosecutions.