Azerbaijan cooperates closely with Russia on Safarov brothers case UPDATED

The Prosecutor General’s Office of Azerbaijan is actively collaborating with Russian investigative bodies in the ongoing case involving the Safarov brothers.

Ilgar Safarov, Senior Assistant to the General Prosecutor of Azerbaijan for Special Assignments, confirmed this during a briefing with the media, as reported by Caliber.Az.

He emphasised Azerbaijan’s extensive history of positive and productive cooperation with Russian institutions, including the Prosecutor’s Office and the Investigative Committee. “This will facilitate the investigation,” Safarov stated.

Addressing the circumstances of Ziyaddin Safarov’s detention, Parviz Jalilov, an investigator with the Investigative Department of Azerbaijan’s General Prosecutor’s Office, assured the press that Safarov sustained no injuries during the arrest. This assertion is supported by video footage of the detention, which was presented to journalists at the briefing.

Samira Najafzada, a representative of Azerbaijan’s Prosecutor General's Office, condemned the use of force by the Russian FSB officers against detainees in Yekaterinburg.

Responding to a journalist’s question on whether violence against suspects can ever be justified, Najafzada firmly stated that accountability must always follow legal procedures.

Even if a person is considered a suspect, their prosecution must be conducted strictly within the framework of the law, she emphasised.

Najafzada highlighted that international and domestic laws, including the UN Convention Against Torture, the European Convention on Human Rights, and the legislations of both Azerbaijan and Russia, explicitly prohibit torture, unlawful violence, and any treatment that degrades human dignity.

None of these actions can be justified under any circumstances, she added.

“Both the UN Convention Against Torture and the European Convention on Human Rights, as well as the laws of both Azerbaijan and Russia, strictly prohibit the use of torture, unlawful violence, and degrading treatment. None of these actions can be justified under any circumstances,” Najafzada stated.

She further underscored the importance of respecting human dignity regardless of the severity of the suspicions.

On June 27, the officers of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) conducted raids on over ten residences of Azerbaijanis in Yekaterinburg, targeting an alleged ethnic Azerbaijani criminal group linked to murders and attempted murders between 2001 and 2011, including the 2001 killing of businessman Yunis Pashayev. During the operation, Ziyaddin Safarov (a Russian citizen) and Huseyn Safarov (an Azerbaijani citizen) were killed, with Russian authorities claiming they died from heart failure, while the other remains under investigation. Nine others, including Bakir, Akif, Ayaz, and Mazahir Safarov, Ahliman Ganjiyev, and Shahin Lalayev, were detained, with court hearings in Yekaterinburg’s Lenin District Court extending their pretrial detention till July 19.

By Khagan Isayev