Azerbaijan tech expert's posthumous audio alleges police torture and framing

Ilgar Aliyev

Newly released audio recordings of Azerbaijani tech expert Ilgar Aliyev, who died in prison this month, reveal he accused police of torturing him and planting drugs to secure a conviction.

The files, published by independent news outlet Abzas Media, contain testimony from Aliyev detailing physical abuse, fabricated evidence, and threats against his family following his arrest in December 2023.

Aliyev, a prominent information and communications technology (ICT) specialist and father of four, died in Prison No. 13 earlier in May 2026. While prison authorities cited "acute cardiovascular failure" as the cause of death, his family maintains he had no prior health conditions.

In the recordings, Aliyev describes being cornered by a plainclothes officer who punched him in the chest before police planted psychotropic substances in his pocket at a station in Baku, the capital.

"They threatened to bring my wife and family to the station if I did not confess that the drugs were mine," Aliyev said in the recording.

He also alleged that officers at the organised crime unit put a toxic substance in his tea to fabricate evidence of drug use.

"The goal was to find traces of toxic substances in my blood to justify arresting me," Aliyev said. "My condition was unstable for four or five days."

Aliyev was detained on 13 December 2023 during a sweeping government crackdown on independent journalists and civil society activists associated with Abzas Media.

On 30 January 2025, Aliyev was sentenced to four years in prison for drug possession without intent to sell by judge Farid Namazov at the Baku Grave Crimes Court. The Supreme Court reduced his sentence to three years in March 2026.

His case received little public attention at the time because his family hoped for a fair trial, according to Osman Gunduz, president of the Azerbaijan Internet Forum.

Aliyev also said in the audio that his chosen lawyers were pressured to abandon his defence.

"My acquaintances who were lawyers were forced to drop my defence," Aliyev said. "They told me that if I did not reject these lawyers, I would be subjected to physical violence."

Aliyev was an international trainer with over 500 students and numerous professional certifications.

Before his death, he called his trial a "total injustice", questioning why a professional trainer would be targeted for his work.

"I never would have thought that someone would be arrested for conducting training or being a trainer," Aliyev said. "I was subjected to total injustice."