On 29 April 2024 – one year ago today – Anar Mammadli, EPDE co-founder and head of our Azerbaijani member organization, the Election Monitoring and Democracy Studies Centre (EMDS), was detained by Azerbaijani authorities on politically motivated charges. Anar remains in pre-trial detention under escalated and unsubstantiated accusations, emblematic of the repressive environment facing civil society in Azerbaijan.

Anar Mammadli stands as one of Azerbaijan’s most prominent advocates for democratic governance and electoral integrity. As the leader of Azerbaijan’s sole independent election observation organization, he has dedicated his career to promoting free and fair elections. The Council of Europe recognized his exceptional commitment to democratic values by awarding him the prestigious Václav Havel Human Rights Prize in 2014.

In 2024, Anar launched the Climate of Justice initiative ahead of COP29 in Baku. Days after this announcement, Azerbaijani authorities arrested him. The situation worsened on 8 April  2025, when the authorities escalated the charges against him from smuggling and money laundering to include unregistered entrepreneurial activities, tax evasion, and document forgery. Currently, he remains in pre-trial detention awaiting trial.

Anar’s case exemplifies the ramping repression against civil society in Azerbaijan. Since January 2023, the country has witnessed an alarming 250% increase in political prisoners, including the detention of Bashir Suleymanli, a long-time colleague and co-founder of EMDS.

We are deeply concerned about Anar’s deteriorating health while in custody. Requests from his legal representatives for proper medical attention have reportedly been denied. If these health concerns remain unaddressed, they risk causing permanent damage to his physical and mental well-being. We strongly urge Azerbaijani authorities to ensure immediate access to appropriate medical care.

We at the European Platform for Democratic Elections reiterate our call for the immediate and unconditional release, as well as full rehabilitation, of Anar Mammadli, Bashir Suleymanli, and all other human rights defenders, journalists, political activists, and academics currently unjustly detained in Azerbaijan.

This represents a distressing pattern, as Anar has previously faced politically motivated detention. The European Court of Human Rights ruled that his 2013 imprisonment violated the European Convention on Human Rights—a judgment that remains unimplemented. His re-arrest demonstrates Azerbaijan’s troubling disregard for its international legal commitments.