Azerbaijan Jailed Him for Talking to an Armenian Scholar, Now He Says He Was Tortured

Azerbaijan has drawn fresh international scrutiny after the jailed researcher sentenced to 18 years in prison for communicating with an Armenian historian reportedly told a court he was tortured in detention, according to reporting by OC Media and statements from his family.

Igbal Abilov, a Talysh researcher convicted on treason charges after Azerbaijani authorities accused him of collaborating with Armenian intelligence, alleges he was beaten while held in solitary confinement at the Baku Pre-Trial Detention Center.

According to his family, the abuse began after he appeared in court wearing a T-shirt printed with a line from a Talysh poem reading: "The day a nation loses its head, it deserves its country's death sentence."

The case has become one of the clearest examples of how contact with Armenians—even in an academic setting—can be treated as a criminal offense in Azerbaijan.

Abilov's conviction centered in part on his communication with Armenian scholar Professor Garnik Asatrian, a leading expert in Iranian studies and the history and language of the Talysh people. Azerbaijani authorities accused the researcher of working with Armenian special services, while pro-government media cited Skype conversations with Asatrian as evidence against him.

Asatrian, however, is an academic, not a government official or intelligence figure. He teaches at Yerevan State University and the Russian-Armenian (Slavonic) University and is internationally known for his research on the peoples and languages of the South Caucasus and the Middle East.

Abilov's father, Shahin Abilov, said prison officials placed his son in solitary confinement after a July 7 court hearing, where he was suing several pro-government media outlets for violating his presumption of innocence.

Speaking to OC Media, Shahin Abilov said defense lawyer Fariz Namazli later informed the family that Igbal had been tied to an iron bed and beaten.

"He was left with bruises and serious injuries to different parts of his body," Shahin Abilov told.

The family also alleges that during another court appearance on July 13, Abilov said he had been assaulted by the detention center's director, Javid Gulaliyev. They further claim he was forced to undergo X-ray examinations against his will on multiple occasions while in custody.

The Armenian Report could not independently verify the allegations, and Azerbaijani authorities have not publicly responded to the family's claims.

Before his arrest, Abilov served as editor-in-chief of News of the Talysh National Academy, a publication dedicated to the history, language and culture of the Talysh people, Azerbaijan's largest ethnic minority. Community leaders have long accused the Azerbaijani government of restricting Talysh cultural and linguistic rights.

Abilov spent much of his life in Belarus, where he lectured at Belarusian State University, and devoted his career to academic research rather than politics.

"He dedicated his life to science and was never interested in politics," Shahin Abilov told OC Media. "Today he is imprisoned because of his scientific work."

The prosecution attracted international attention after Azerbaijan portrayed ordinary academic exchanges as espionage. Human rights advocates have argued that authorities failed to present publicly available evidence showing that Abilov's conversations with Asatrian involved classified information or intelligence activities.

Abilov has denied all charges and previously alleged that Azerbaijan's State Security Service offered him a reduced sentence if he confessed—an allegation authorities have not publicly addressed.

His father also told OC Media that investigators attempted to pressure the family into persuading Abilov to cooperate with security services.

"They asked me to speak with Igbal so he would reach an agreement with them," Shahin Abilov told the outlet. "When I asked whether they would drop the charges, they said no, but that they could help him while he was in prison."

Rights advocates say the case shows a broader crackdown on Azerbaijan's Talysh minority. Other activists have also alleged pressure from the State Security Service to become informants. Among them was Talysh activist Mirhafiz Jafarzade, who campaigned for Talysh-language education before receiving a 16-year prison sentence on treason charges after refusing to cooperate with authorities, according to his own account.

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