Rufat Safarov (full name: Rufat Eldar oglu Safarov, , born October 11, 1981, Zahmat, Zangibasar District) is an Azerbaijani human rights defender, political prisoner and former investigator. Safarov worked as an investigator in the Zardab District Prosecutor's Office from 2011 to 2015.
On December 20, 2015, he publicly announced his resignation from his position, stating that he could no longer tolerate the "suppression of people's rights and freedoms." Shortly after this, under the instructions of Kamran Aliyev, head of the Main Directorate for Combating Corruption at the General Prosecutor's Office, a criminal case was initiated against him under Article 311.3.2 of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan (accepting bribes). On January 15, he was arrested, and a week later, he was placed under house arrest. Even under house arrest, he continued making statements criticizing the government. On September 8, 2016, the Lankaran Court for Serious Crimes sentenced Rufat Safarov to 9 years in prison, and he was taken into custody in the courtroom. After 2 years and 6 months of imprisonment, he was released under a presidential amnesty decree issued on March 16, 2019. After his release, he resumed his work, initially as a public activist and then as a human rights defender.
In July 2020, he founded the human rights organization "Defense Line" (az. Müdafiə Xətti) and served as its executive director. Since then, he has continued his human rights work in Azerbaijan.
In December 2024, he was arrested again on charges under Articles 127.2.3 (intentional infliction of minor bodily harm), 221.1 (hooliganism), and 178.3.2 (fraud with large damage) of the Azerbaijani Criminal Code. This arrest was recognized by both local and international communities as politically motivated. According to Safarov, he was supposed to receive an award from United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken for his human rights work, and his arrest was aimed at preventing this from happening.
He is currently held in the Baku Pre-Trial Detention Center of the Penitentiary Service of the Ministry of Justice.
Early years Rufat Safarov was born on October 11, 1981, in the village of Zahmat, Zangibasar District, into the family of Eldar Sabiroglu. In early 1988, as a result of the deportation of Azerbaijanis from Armenia, he and his family were forced to leave the Zangibasar District.
From 1988 to 1998, he studied at secondary school No. 135 in the Binagadi District. He later graduated from the Faculty of Law at Baku State University.
Between 2004 and 2011, he worked as a lawyer at the Ministry of Agriculture of Azerbaijan, specializing in agricultural law. During this period, he was also a member of the supervisory board of the Open Joint Stock Company (OJSC) Agrolizing.
In 2011, after successfully passing a three-stage examination, he was accepted to work in the Prosecutor's Office. On October 1, 2011, he was appointed as an investigator for the Zardab District Prosecutor's Office. He holds a Class II legal qualification. In December 2015, he resigned from his position, which subsequently led to his arrest.
Resignation, arrest, and trial (2015–2016) Since 2011, Rufat Safarov held the position of an investigator at the Zardab District Prosecutor's Office. On December 20, 2015, he announced his resignation from this position and stated that he had sent a letter of resignation to the Prosecutor General, Zakir Garalov. He also made the letter public through the media. Later, Safarov shared on his social media accounts that he would fight against injustice. He mentioned that he resigned because he could not tolerate the "violation of people's rights and freedoms" and emphasized that his views "do not align with the position of the current regime."
On December 21, 2015, the General Prosecutor's Office announced that Rufat Safarov had been dismissed from the prosecutor's office for actions incompatible with the status of a prosecutor or investigator, grossly violating the requirements of Article 34 of the Law of the Republic of Azerbaijan "On Prosecutor’s Office" and Articles 30 and 31 of the Code of Ethical Conduct for Prosecutor's Office Employees of Azerbaijan.
The day after Safarov's resignation, on December 21, 2015, searches were conducted at his office and residence. As a result of these searches, his personal computer, mobile phones, and documents were seized. In protest of these actions, Safarov declared a hunger strike on December 21.
On January 15, 2016, Kamran Aliyev, head of the Main Directorate for Combating Corruption at the General Prosecutor's Office, announced at a press conference that various complaints had been received about Rufat Safarov, and a criminal case had been initiated against him under Article 311.3.2 of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan (bribery). Commenting on the case, Safarov called the accusations biased and unfounded, adding that he was "not afraid of arrest, torture, or the harshest conditions."
Preliminary investigation and trial On January 15, by the decision of the Binagadi District Court, chaired by Judge Abbas Rzayev, a preventive measure in the form of arrest was imposed on Rufat Safarov for a period of 3 months and 26 days. According to his lawyer, Bahruz Bayramov, Safarov did not admit to the charges in court, calling them "absurd and ridiculous." On January 22, the Binagadi District Court replaced the arrest with house arrest.
On February 12, Rufat Safarov was summoned for questioning at the Anti-Corruption Directorate of the General Prosecutor's Office. Before the questioning, he told Voice of America: "I hadn’t been invited to the office for a month, despite being the accused, but today, I was invited right after I gave an interview to the Azadliq newspaper yesterday." On March 8, he published an article titled "The Murder of the Law" (az. Hüququn qətli) in Azadliq, where he sharply criticized the country's law enforcement agencies and government.
On May 4, the Binagadi District Court extended Safarov's house arrest for another 3 months. The preliminary investigation of the criminal case, which was led by Rashad Bashirov, an investigator from the Main Directorate for Combating Corruption at the General Prosecutor's Office, was completed on June 27, and the case was forwarded to the Lankaran Court for Serious Crimes for trial.
On July 25, a preparatory hearing took place at the Lankaran Court for Serious Crimes, chaired by Judge Asim Gadjiev, in the case of Rufat Safarov. Safarov himself denies the charges and considers the criminal case to be fabricated. He stated that the criminal case against him is fictitious and has no valid grounds. During the hearing, Safarov's lawyer, Bahruz Bayramov, filed a motion for the dismissal of the case on grounds of acquittal. However, the motion was not considered. Following this, the state prosecutor, Aydin Aliyev, requested that the criminal case be forwarded to court for trial. As a result, the court decided to transfer the case to trial.
On August 8, during the court hearing, state prosecutor Aydin Aliyev presented the indictment. According to the case materials, in 2014, Rufat Safarov allegedly received bribes from several individuals: 1000 manat from the chairman of the Əlibəyli rural municipality (a village in the Zardab District), Elchin Khalilov; 700 manat from Alamdar Abbasov, an employee of the district's electricity network; 500 manat from Mansur Panahov, an employee of the Zardab Veterinary Department; and 3000 manat from Eldaniz Abdullayev, the head of the culture and tourism department. Safarov rejected the charges, calling them defamation rather than an indictment. He believes the real reason for the criminal case against him is his public criticism of the prosecutor's office. He also noted that he had received personal gratitude from the Prosecutor General, Zakir Garalov, for his good work. "If I were a bribed official, why would they thank me?" Safarov pointed out.
On September 7, witnesses were questioned in court. Some witnesses did not confirm the testimony they had given during the preliminary investigation, while others stated they were unaware of the specific bribe that Safarov allegedly received. Despite these discrepancies, the state prosecutor made a statement and requested the court to sentence Safarov to 10 years of imprisonment.
On September 8, the final court hearing in the case of Rufat Safarov took place. The Lankaran Court for Serious Crimes handed down a sentence of 9 years in prison, and Safarov was arrested in the courtroom. In an interview, his lawyer, Bahruz Bayramov, called the verdict "shameful." "The court’s decision was made without allowing the defendant his final word. This will remain in Azerbaijan’s judicial history as the court that passed a verdict without the defendant’s last statement. It’s a huge disgrace," he remarked. Commenting on the decision to arrest him, Safarov said, "This is repression against me. They are simply trying to crush me under the wheels of the repressive machine."
According to the court's decision, Safarov was transferred to the Baku Investigative Detention Center in the Zabrat settlement. In October, Leyla Yunus, the head of the Institute for Peace and Democracy; Ogtay Gulaliyev, coordinator of the Public Alliance Azerbaijan Without Political Prisoners; and Elshan Gasanov, head of the Center for Monitoring Political Prisoners, considered Safarov's arrest to be politically motivated. They declared him a political prisoner and called for his immediate release.
In October, the Shirvan Appeal Court reviewed the appeal against Safarov's sentence. During the trial, chaired by Judge Alesger Novruzov, several motions submitted by Safarov's lawyer, Bahruz Bayramov, were not accepted. Safarov, in his speech, stated that this was an unjust court and that they were ultimately carrying out a political order. According to the final decision made on December 22, Rufat Safarov's appeal was rejected, and the 9-year prison sentence was upheld.
In July 2017, Rufat Safarov's cassation appeal was considered. Lawyers Bahruz Bayramov, Yalchin Imanov, and Fariz Namazli argued that Safarov was innocent, that the charges had not been proven during the investigation and trial, and that both the investigation and trials had been conducted in violation of the law. The lawyers requested the court to terminate the criminal case and acquit Rufat Safarov. During the trial, chaired by Judge Gulzar Rzayeva, the Supreme Court did not accept Safarov's appeal. In the hearing, Safarov declared, "The court will follow the instructions of Ilham Aliyev’s regime, regardless of its composition."
Cruel treatment and torture in Correctional Facility No. 9
On January 6, 2017, Rufat Safarov was transferred from the pre-trial detention center to correctional facility (colony) No. 9.
After the transfer, Rufat began to face pressure. According to his father, one of the facility's staff members took actions that humiliated Rufat. Despite his complaint about this, Rufat was found guilty of violating the internal rules of the institution and was reprimanded.
A week later, on January 17, Rufat was placed in a punishment cell for 7 days for disciplinary violations. According to his lawyer, Bahruz Bayramov, after Rufat's transfer to colony No. 9, a mentally ill person was placed next to him, who prevented Rufat from sleeping. When Rufat told the correctional facility guards about this, they insulted him. Afterward, Rufat filed a complaint with the head of the colony. As a result, Rufat was placed in the punishment cell for 7 days for violating discipline.