“They took away my right to freedom and did not treat me fairly. Justice became a fairy tale, the power of slander proved stronger.”

Ilgar Aliyev, an information and communications technology expert who was arrested as part of the wave of repression launched against independent media in November 2023, has reportedly died in Prison No. 13, where he was being held.

Reports published in pro-government media stated that Ilgar Aliyev died due to illness.

However, according to information obtained by Abzas Media, he had no health complaints while in prison.

No official statement has yet been issued regarding Ilgar Aliyev’s death.

Information obtained by Abzas Media suggests that, he linked his arrest to the cybersecurity trainings he had provided to media organizations such as Abzas Media and Meclis.info.

A post made on Ilgar Aliyev’s LinkedIn account on his behalf says:

“I held some of the world’s most reputable and respected international certifications in my field. I had the status of an international trainer in ICT standards and cybersecurity, which allowed me to conduct specialized trainings in any country in the world. I had trained hundreds of students working in the ICT field both in my country and abroad. I declined numerous job offers from Europe and Asia, thinking that I should stay in my country and share my knowledge and experience.”

On January 30, 2025, Ilgar Aliyev was sentenced to four years in prison by the Baku Grave Crimes Court in a hearing chaired by Judge Farid Namazov.

Ilgar Aliyev, who had worked as head of the Information Technologies Department at Baku International Sea Trade Port CJSC and as an adviser at one of the banks, was initially charged with illegal trafficking of large quantities of narcotic substances.

The court later concluded that the defendant had not obtained the drugs for the purpose of selling them. On this basis, his act was reclassified under Article 234.1-1 of the Criminal Code - illegal acquisition, possession, preparation, processing, or transportation of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances in large quantities without intent to sell.

The ICT expert pleaded not guilty in court.

In March of this year, Ilgar Aliyev’s sentence was reduced from four years to three years.

According to information obtained, during Ilgar Aliyev’s arrest, his right to defense was violated, and he was forcibly filmed and pressured to confess that he had used drugs.

According to the same information, Ilgar Aliyev later said that a narcotic substance had been added to his tea and given to him to drink, after which a test sample was taken from him. It is also emphasized that no operational-search measures had been carried out in connection with him.

“In 2023, I was framed and poisoned. A fabricated indictment and protocols were woven around me like a spider’s web. They shifted responsibility for my unlawful arrest onto one another. No one took responsibility and revealed the real reasons. The Supreme Court did not terminate the fabricated criminal case. My friends, my colleagues, think deeply and strategically. What should I do now, and what should I do next for my country’s technological development?” a post on Ilgar Aliyev’s LinkedIn account reads.

Abzas Media has learned that, on April 27, the Garadagh District Court reviewed a motion for Ilgar Aliyev’s early release. The next hearing was scheduled for May 4.

Ilgar Aliyev’s prison term was due to end in December of this year.

“I was framed in my homeland. I tried hard and used all possible civilized means, but justice did not prevail, it was defeated, it was seized,” Ilgar Aliyev’s LinkedIn account states.

Since November 2023, a new and large-scale wave of repression has begun in Azerbaijan against independent media, civil society activists, and investigative journalists. International human rights organizations and local activists have described it as one of the harshest pressure campaigns of recent years.

As part of this wave, employees of media organizations such as Abzas Media, Toplum TV, Meclis.info, and Meydan TV have been arrested on smuggling and other serious financial charges.

On June 20, 2025, at a hearing of the Baku Grave Crimes Court chaired by Judge Rasim Sadikhov, Abzas Media director Ulvi Hasanli, editor-in-chief Sevinj Vagifgizi, investigative journalist Hafiz Babali, and Radio Liberty journalist and economist Farid Mehralizada were sentenced to nine years in prison; journalists Nargiz Absalamova and Elnara Gasimova to eight years; and project coordinator Mahammad Kekalov to seven years and six months.

On September 9, the Court of Appeal upheld the verdict.

On April 3, 2026, the Supreme Court rejected the defendants’ cassation appeal and left the previous decision unchanged.

The trials of other detained journalists are currently ongoing.

They do not accept the charges and say their arrests are politically motivated and linked to their professional work. The government, as a rule, claims that no one in the country is persecuted or pressured because of their professional activities, and that those individuals were arrested for acts they committed.

According to reports by local human rights organizations, there are currently 340 political prisoners in the country.