Free Bahruz Samadov

International Academic Community Calls for the Release of Young Azerbaijani Scholar Bahruz Samadov

(to sign  the letter please click here)

With this letter, we, the undersigned, want to express our deepest concern about the arrest, pre-trial detention and accusation of treason of Bahruz Samadov in Azerbaijan and demand his immediate release. 

Bahruz Samadov is a doctoral student at the Faculty of Social Sciences of Charles University in Prague. On 21 August 2024, when he was visiting Baku, Samadov was detained by Azerbaijan’s State Security Service. On 23 August 2024, it became known that he had been charged with 'high treason' and that he would remain imprisoned during (at least) a 4-month pre-trial detention. Based on the limited information available, the accusations appear to be directly related to Samadov's research and advocacy interests in peace in the South Caucasus and his meetings with Armenian counterparts at civil society and academic fora.

We are deeply concerned by Samadov’s detention, and by the accusation of treason. We understand this as an attempt to stifle the ongoing peace-building efforts in the South Caucasus, and to silence critical voices that oppose violence and war. We find this unacceptable and at odds with the government’s discourse about progress towards peace. 

We are equally concerned about the recent upsurge in arrests and prosecutions of other researchers, activists and journalists in Azerbaijan. We join the call of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and of PEN America to release the 23 journalists and media workers unjustly imprisoned in Azerbaijan in the run-up to the UN Climate Change Conference (or COP29), as well as academic researchers and peace activists such as Bahruz Samadov.

With this letter we call on the government of Azerbaijan to immediately release Bahruz Samadov and other political prisoners in Azerbaijan from detention and to respect their human rights. 

We call on the Czech Republic, where Bahruz Samadov resides and works, the European Union, and other countries in Europe and beyond, to make strong and immediate efforts towards the release of Bahruz Samadov and other political prisoners in Azerbaijan. 

We call on Charles University to closely monitor the situation with Bahruz Samadov and provide him with necessary support.

We call on the COP29 International Advisory Committee, but also all COP29 participants (in particular researchers), to keep the detention of Bahruz Samadov and other imprisoned Azerbaijani researchers, activists and journalists on the agenda when visiting Baku in November 2024.

Signatories (to sign click here)

Institutions

Populism Specialist Group (Political Studies Association)

Centre for the Study of Democracy, Signification and Resistance

ECHO - Media, Culture and Politics Research Group (Vrije Universiteit Brussel)

Centre on Ideology & Discourse Analysis (CIDA), University of Essex



Individuals

Here is the final updated list with the new signatories added:


1. Benjamin De Cleen, associate professor, Vrije Universiteit Brussel  

2. Kirill Filimonov, postdoctoral researcher, Uppsala University  

3. Giorgos Venizelos, CEU Democracy Institute  

4. Nico Carpentier  

5. Altay Goyushov, Baku Research Institute  

6. Aude Merlin, Université Libre de Bruxelles  

7. Laurence Broers, associate fellow, Russia & Eurasia Programme, Chatham House  

8. Anita Khachaturova, doctoral candidate, Cevipol/ULB  

9. Naira Sahakyan, Assistant Professor, American University of Armenia  

10. Vicken Cheterian, Professor, University of Geneva  

11. Janos Kis, Senior CEU Fellow, Democracy Institute  

12. Laura Luciani, Postdoctoral researcher, Ghent University  

13. Dirk Geldof, University of Antwerp, Belgium  

14. Coline Maestracci, Université libre de Bruxelles  

15. Veronika Pfeilschifter, FSU Jena/ZOiS Berlin  

16. Derya Yüksek, CULCORC, Charles University  

17. Huguette Viala, membre de AFR  

18. Taline Papazian, Sciences Po  

19. Pr Marie-Pierre REY, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne  

20. Liliya Dyachenko, Sorbonne University  

21. Francesco Radicioli-Chini, Université de Strasbourg  

22. Ekaterina Gloriozova, Université libre de Bruxelles  

23. Caroline Gatsi, Student  

24. Valérie Pozner, CNRS (Thalim)  

25. Eric Aunoble, Senior Lecturer, University of Geneva  

26. Kristyna Koprivova, Charles University  

27. Yéléna Mac-Glandières, Institut Français de Géopolitique, Université Paris 8  

28. Yves Cohen, EHESS (France)  

29. Kirill Polkov, Postdoctoral research fellow, Södertörn University (Sweden)  

30. Longuet Marx, CETOBAC Paris (France)  

31. Eric Naiman, university of california, berkeley  

32. Anna Ohanyan, Stonehill College  

33. Sean Phelan, Massey University  

34. Gaëlle Le Pavic, Ghent University - United Nations University  

35. Andreas Eder-Ramsauer, University of Vienna  

36. Olivier Jutel, University of Otago  

37. Julius Schneider, University of Essex  

38. Louise Amoris, UGent  

39. Craig Love, University of Essex International College  

40. Max Soar, Victoria University of Wellington  

41. Millie Light, Nottingham Trent University  

42. Alix Debray, Ghent University  

43. Séagh Kehoe, University of Westminster  

44. Tony Carusi, Massey University  

45. Marc Elie, CNRS  

46. Anne Le Huérou, Assistant professor  

47. Katy Brown, Maynooth University  

48. Daniel Tsui, University of York  

49. Briar Dickey, Vrije Universiteit Brussel  

50. Weyembergh Anne, ULB  

51. Marina Fedorovsky, Université de Genève  

52. Martin Deleixhe, Université Libre de Bruxelles  

53. Jason Glynos, University of Essex  

54. Turkay Gasimova, European University Institute  

55. Gabrielle Chomentowski, Centre d'histoire sociale des mondes contemporains  

56. Vladimir Bortun, University of Oxford  

57. Laurent Coumel, CREE, INALCO (France)  

58. Panos Panayotu, Aarhus University  

59. Françoise Daucé, CERCEC / EHESS  

60. Andreas Heinrich, University of Bremen, Germany  

61. MgA. Sofiia Sorokina, Artist, researcher, musician  

62. Sandro Makhatadze, Acquaintance  

63. Evelyn Jeong, University of Trento, Italy  

64. Erin Jenne, Central European University  

65. Ayan Das, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Gour Banga, West Bengal  

66. Zhanna Vedmid  

67. Bela Greskovits, Professor Emeritus  

68. Istvan Perczel, Professor, Central European University, Department of Historical Studies  

69. Zsolt Körtvélyesi, CEU IR  

70. Zsolt Enyedi, CEU  

71. Reid Kleinberg, University of Essex  

72. Lone Sorensen, University of Leeds  

73. Thomas Fetzer, Central European University  

74. Xymena Kurowska, Central European University  

75. Lazaros Karavasilis, University of Bremen  

76. Sebastian Ronderos, Getulio Vargas Foundation  

77. Gijs Lambrechts, Vrije Universiteit Brussel  

78. Thomas Jacobs, UCLouvain  

79. Fatima Zahid Ali, Vrije Universiteit Brussels  

80. Stéphanie Cirac, CNRS  

81. Jana Goyvaerts, VUB  

82. Anar Koli, Soka University, Tokyo  

83. Anna Luo, Vrije Universiteit Brussel  

84. Daniel Kashnitsky, Paris Cité University  

85. Yazan Badran, Vrije Universiteit Brussel  

86. Bernadett Sebály, CEU Democracy Institute  

87. Pierre-Guillaume Méon, Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB)  

88. László Csaba, Fellow, Academia Europaea/London  

89. Damian Guzek, University of Silesia in Katowice  

90. Wladimir Yagello, Prêtre orthodoxe  

91. Sossi Tatikyan, Université Sorbonne Nouvelle  

92. Valeriane Mistiaen, Vrije Universiteit Brussel  

93. Alexander Mutnansky, Birkbeck College, University of London  

94. Javid Asadov, PhD Candidate, Maria Curie-Sklodowska University in Lublin  

95. Andres Laiapea, masters student, University of Tartu  

96. Anahit Kartashyan, PhD candidate  

97. Dora Matejak, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana  

98. Vanessa Voisin, Università di Bologna  

99. David Alan Rich, Catholic University of America  

100. Erica Capecchi, University of Bristol  

101. Rigmor Djernaes, Student  

102. Doris Manu, College of Europe  

103. Irina Tcherneva, CNRS  

104. Esther Korman, College of Europe  

105. Mark Soler, European University Institute  

106. Anush Petrosyan, Tampere Peace Research Institute (TAPRI)  

107.Jacques Vallin,Directeur de recherche émérite, Institut national d'études démographiques  

108. Victoria Abrahamyan, University of Geneva  

109. Beata Bienkowska, London School of Economics  

110. Sebastián Gerardo, College of Europe  

111. Edina Dóci, Université catholique de Louvain  

112. Marie Tuley, University of Sussex  

113. Evelyne Enderlein, Université Strasbourg  

114. Cédric Pernette, Sorbonne Université  

115. Pedro Camelo, PhD student at Uppsala University  

116. Anna Kwiatkiewicz, EU expert in social affairs  

117. Oleksandr Ruzevych, College of Europe  

118. Vadim Romashov, University of Eastern Finland  

119. Léonie de Jonge, University of Groningen  

120. Jonathan Collons, Charles University  

121. Uladzimir Valodzin, European University Institute, PhD candidate  

122. Thomás Zicman de Barros, University of Minho & Sciences Po Paris  

123. Igor Vobič, University of Ljubljana  

124. Aurelien Mondon, University of Bath  

125. Kamal Kariem, Williams College  

126. Andreas Schedler, CEU Democracy Institute  

127. Nicolaas P. Barr, University of Washington, Seattle  

128. Rosemary Overell, The University of Otago  

129. Lydie Denis, UCLouvain Saint-Louis  

130. Pierre-Etienne Vandamme, KU Leuven  

131. Dr. Pytrik Schafraad, Tilburg University (NED)  

132. Chris Hanretty, Royal Holloway, University of London  

133. Saskia Bonjour, University of Amsterdam  

134. Magdalena Breyer, University of Basel  

135. Rémi Wagenheim, College of Europe alumnus  

136. Maximilian Grönegräs, Vrije Universiteit Brussel  

137. Lucie Hunter, Scuola Normale Superiore  

138. Larissa Daria Meier, Bielefeld University  

139. Jacopo Custodi, Scuola Normale Superiore  

140. Jannis Grimm, Freie Universität Berlin  

141. Chares Demetriou, Lund University (Sweden)  

142. Kai Arzheimer, University of Mainz, Germany  

143. Diego Ceccobelli, University of Milan  

144. Vasiliki (Billy) Tsagkroni, Leiden University  

145. Nadezda Shchinova, Université catholique de Louvain  

146. Rodolphe Baudin, Sorbonne University  

147. Marco de Baar, NWO DIFFER  

148. Lisa Janssen, Ghent University  

149. Frederic Long, N/A  

150. Bogumil Jewsiewicki, Université Laval, Québec, Canada  

151. Théo Aiolfi, University of Burgundy  

152. Alexander Morrison, New College, Oxford and Oxford Nizami Ganjavi Centre  

153. Linda Bos, University of Amsterdam  

154. Juan Roch, Postdoctoral researcher at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid  

155. Prof. Dr. Bart Cammaerts, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)  

156. Geoffrey Pleyers, FNRS - University of Louvain, Belgium  

157. Luca Schollaert, College of Europe  

158. Georg Plattner, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)  

159. Pascal Gielen, Antwerp University  

160. Elmar Valizada, N/A  

161. Laure Delcour, Sorbonne Nouvelle  

162. Tim Peace, University of Glasgow  

163. Michael T. Heaney, University of Glasgow  

164. Diarmaid Kelliher, University of Glasgow  

165. David Featherstone, University of Glasgow  

166. Manelle Lepoix, Student  

167. Claire Mouradian, CNRS  

168. Eviya Hovhannisyan, Social Anthropologist  

169. Rhys Machold, University of Glasgow  

170. Silvia Serrano, Sorbonne University  

171. Mazlum Kemal Dağdelen, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic  

172. Violetta Zentai, Central European University  

173. Milena Sudolowicz, CoE

174. Giuseppe Ballacci, University of Minho  

175. Thiago Monteiro de Souza, University of Minho  

176. João Rosas, University of Minho  

177. Ines Zampaglione, CEPS, University of Minho  

178. Lena Marinova, University of Minho  

179. Vaia Doudaki, Desire member  

180. John Downey, Loughborough University, President ECREA  

181. Jelena Kleut, University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Philosophy, Serbia  

182. Norbert Šinković, Teaching Assistant, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Novi Sad  

183. Dragana Prodanović, University of Novi Sad  

184. Volker Grassmuck, Leibniz Institute for Media Research | Hans-Bredow-Institut, Hamburg  

185. Nevena Jevtić, University of Novi Sad, Serbia  

186. Professor Graham Murdock, Loughborough University  

187. Smiljana Milinkov, Associate Professor, University of Novi Sad  

188. José Gomes Pinto, Lusofona University - Lisbon  

189. Uwe Hasebrink, Leibniz Institute for Media Research | Hans-Bredow-Institut, Hamburg  

190. Simone Tosoni, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore di Milano  

191. Usha Raman, University of Hyderabad, India  

192. Joke Hermes, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands  

193. Michele Sorice, Sapienza University of Rome  

194. Christian Ruggiero, Sapienza University of Rome  

195. Boccia Artieri Giovanni, University of Urbino Carlo Bo  

196. Andrea Volterrani, University of Rome Tor Vergata  

197. Josef Seethaler, Austrian Academy of Sciences  

198. Dimitra Milioni, Associate Professor, Cyprus University of Technology  

199. Stelios Papathanassopoulos, University of Athens  

200. Helmut Peissl, COMMIT - Vienna  

201. Theodoros Kouros, Cyprus University of Technology  

202. Hannu Nieminen, University of Helsinki, Finland  

203. Dionysis Panos, Cyprus University of Technology  

204. Ali Dokumaci, Charles University  

205. Barbara Thomass, Ruhr-University of Bochum  

206. Maria Bakardjieva, University of Calgary, Canada  

207. Gregory Paschalidis, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece)  

208. Stefan Janjić, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Novi Sad  

209. Donald Matheson, University of Canterbury  

210. Peter Thompson, Victoria University of Wellington  

211. Conan Young, University of Canterbury, NZ, Journalism Course Co-ordinator  

212. Gerard Goggin, Professor, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University  

213. Dr. Emma Briant, Monash University  

214. Johan Lidberg, Monash University  

215. Bridget Backhaus, Senior Lecturer, Griffith University  

216. Andrew Dodd, Director, Centre for Advancing Journalism, University of Melbourne  

217. Erin Harrington, University of Canterbury  

218. Katherine Roff, University of Adelaide  

219. Dr. Greg Treadwell, Auckland University of Technology  

220. Jock Cheetham, Charles Sturt University