The public activist chained himself to the gates of the Azerbaijani Embassy in Germany.
Civil activist Natig Mammadov staged a one-man protest outside the Azerbaijani Embassy in Berlin.
He chained himself to the metal fence of the embassy to express solidarity with Tofig Yagublu’s hunger strike and to oppose his unfair detention.
Tofig Yagublu was arrested in December 2023. On March 10, he was sentenced to nine years in prison by the Baku Serious Crimes Court after being found guilty of fraud and forging documents. To protest, he began a hunger strike with the intention to continue until death on April 1.
Tofig Yagublu’s appeal hearing is scheduled for May 6.
A prominent opposition figure, he has long been a vocal critic of the Aliyev family’s 32-year rule in Azerbaijan and has been jailed eight times. He is acknowledged as a prisoner of conscience.
Tofig Yagublu’s detention is drawing increasing international attention.
U.S. Congress member Eleanor Holmes Norton has called on President Ilham Aliyev to release Tofig Yagublu.
The Norwegian Helsinki Committee also issued a statement urging his release.
German parliamentarian and PACE representative Frank Schwabe has also expressed concern regarding Tofig Yagublu.
Repression in Azerbaijan will be a subject of discussion in the U.S. Congress, as the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission highlights the grave state of human rights in the country.
