In May 2025, the human rights situation in Azerbaijan remained deeply troubling, with politically motivated arrests continuing to rise—extending a pattern of monthly and non-stop crackdowns seen over the past four months of 2025 but also continued since November 2023. Reports of torture, harsh prison conditions, and unfair trials targeting civil society members, journalists, and opposition figures continued to be on the agenda during May 2025.
In May 2025, eight new arrests were recorded. Four of them, including journalists Ulviyya Guliyeva, Ahmad Mammadli, and PFPA members Zaur Rzali and Novruz Taghiyev were criminally charged, while another three members of the PFPA – Kanan Ismayilov, Asam Ali, Rashad Aliyev, and activist Nijat Amiraslanov were also arrested on alleged administrative offences grounds.
Ethnic Talish researcher Igbal Abilov was sentenced to 18 years in prison on treason and ethnic hatred charges, in a closed trial that lacked transparency and violated due process. His arrest is widely seen as politically motivated.
Abzas Media: The prosecution requested 11–12-year sentences for seven journalists amid reports of torture and procedural violations amid closing trial hearings.
Tofig Yagublu, an opposition politician, remains imprisoned despite health concerns after a hunger strike.
Trials continued in Toplum TV, Anar Mammadli, Imran Aliyev, Azer Gasimli, Mohyaddin Orujov, and Bahruz Samadovcases—all facing harsh charges widely viewed as retaliation for civic activism.
Elvin Mustafayev and Afiaddin Mammadov were put in solitary confinement after supporting Yagublu’s hunger strike.
Ali Zeynal, a Toplum TV journalist, was punished for protesting inhumane transport conditions.
Fazil Gasimov was isolated during his hunger strike protesting his politically charged imprisonment.
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