The Global Network for Domestic Election Monitors (GNDEM) received with indignation the announcement of the sentences against Anar Mammadli, a leading human rights activist and the Chairperson of the Election Monitoring and Democracy Studies Center (EMDS) - a GNDEM member - in Azerbaijan. We call for his immediate release, and for the respect of the fundamental rights of all Azerbaijan citizens to freely express their opinions and assemble without fear or threat of persecution.

In April 2024, Anar Mammadli, alongside other activists from EMDS, were detained for fulfilling their role as  nonpartisan citizen election observers and for concluding that the electoral process of the February 2024 snap election “was conducted in an environment lacking democratic principles and real political competition, violating national and international standards for free and fair elections”. In its statement released on April 30, 2024, GNDEM condemned the unlawful detention of Anar Mammadli and other members of EMDS who were victims of a sustained discrediting campaign and constant government harassment.

Following 27 months in detention, on September 7, 2026, the Baku Court on Grave Crimes sentenced Anar Mammadli to 13 years in prison on tax, currency and other charges. Amnesty International described his conviction as the result of “an unfair trial in which his rights were brazenly violated” and stated that “the prosecution failed to present credible evidence establishing that the alleged offences had been committed”. It further noted that “the courts arbitrarily rejected numerous requests by defence lawyers, including requests to examine all the prosecution’s evidence, question key witnesses in open court and address manifest inaccuracies and inconsistencies in the case materials”.

For years, the Azerbaijani government has systematically misused the criminal justice system to prosecute prominent journalists, civil society leaders, human rights defenders and other dissenting voices. This pattern of harassment sought to criminalize critical voices through various judicial processes designed to obstruct their work and to create a broader climate of fear.

GNDEM reminds that the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders explicitly recognizes election observers as human rights defenders who serve to protect civil and political rights of citizens and that “Member States are urged to take all necessary steps to establish conditions that allow national and international election observers to effectively do their work, and to protect them from any violence, threats, retaliation, adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of their legitimate exercise of their rights and freedoms.”

GNDEM strongly condemns the court ruling against Anar Mammadli and calls for his immediate release. Furthermore, the Network urges the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately halt the repeated attacks and prosecution targeting independent, non-partisan voices of citizen election observers and human rights activists and to protect them in line with the country's regional and international human rights obligations. Additionally, the authorities must put an end to the instrumentalization of the criminal justice system to silence election observers, journalists and human rights defenders and immediately ensure a safe environment to carry out their legitimate work without fear of retaliation.