Azerbaijani NGO leader issues statement on criminal case against him

Azerbaijani NGO leader on charges against him

By decision of the Binagadi District Court, Subhan Hasanli, head of the Azerbaijani Centre for Social Rights, who has been placed under arrest in absentia and declared wanted, has responded to the charges against him.

Hasanli is accused of multiple offenses, including illegal entrepreneurship, tax evasion, abuse of office, money laundering, and forgery of official documents.

According to the indictment, between 2020 and 2021, he signed contracts with the American humanitarian organization FH1360 and the British Institute for War & Peace Reporting, receiving grants that he then brought into the country and legalized through “service agreements.”

NGO leader denies charges

Subhan Hasanli, in a statement posted on his Facebook page, wrote the following:

“The case against me is based on the claim that I signed a service contract with IWPR (Institute for War & Peace Reporting) and FHI360 (a North Carolina-based nonprofit for human development) and violated the law.

I received €5,000 and $10,000 from these organizations. Each payment was taxed at 20%, and social contributions were made to the state. In total, I paid around 5,200 manats (about $3,000) just in taxes.

I have no outstanding tax debts. All social contributions and unemployment insurance payments have been made. So how can this money be considered illegal? How can it be deemed criminal proceeds?

Even the State Tax Service conducted two separate audits of our activities. The result? No issues were found. So why is this suddenly a problem now? If it wasn’t an issue then, why has it become one today?

If these payments were illegal, why didn’t the State Tax Service tell us during their audit: ‘Hey, you’re engaged in illegal activity’? After all, under the Administrative Procedural Code, there is a principle of trust in state institutions.”

Opinion: 'Tofig Yagublu urges international community to pay attention to Azerbaijan through hunger strike'

Azerbaijani human rights activist Fuad Ahmadli supports the hunger strike of politician Tofig Yagublu and believes it is important for drawing the attention of the international community.

Hasanli also points out that among those who received projects from FHI360 under a service contract was a member of the Supervisory Board of the Agency for State Support of NGOs.

He notes that as part of one such project, training sessions were conducted for justice ministry employees:

“Why didn’t the Ministry of Justice question whether this was a grant and why it was issued under a service contract? For one of these projects, the State Tax Service at the highest level provided organizational support. This was a meeting between FHI360 and the Agency for State Support of NGOs, attended by top-level officials.

So where was this agency looking at the time? Why didn’t they ask why the project was based on a service contract? But when it comes to us, suddenly it’s illegal?

This entire case is fabricated. Someone is unhappy with us, and they are making arrests as a result.”

Background

The Investigative Department of the General Prosecutor’s Office of Azerbaijan has opened a criminal case against the head of the Center for Social Rights, Subkhan Hasanli, under the following articles of the Criminal Code:

• 192.2.2 – illegal entrepreneurship involving large-scale income,
• 213.1 – tax evasion and failure to pay significant amounts of unemployment insurance, mandatory health insurance, or state social insurance contributions,
• 308.2 – abuse of power resulting in grave consequences,
• 193-1.2.3 – money laundering using official position,
• 313 – official forgery.

Arrests in Azerbaijan: Two oppositionists charged with incitement against state

On March 7, the Baku Appeals Court heard the case of Azerbaijan Popular Front Party activists Zaur Asgarov and Gunduz Mirzaev, arrested on charges of incitement against the state.

The criminal prosecution of Hasanli is another act in the new wave of arrests in Azerbaijan.

On 14 March 2025, Bashir Suleymanli, head of the Institute for Civil Rights, Mamed Alpay (Mamedzade), head of the Election Monitoring Alliance, Hafiz Hasanov, head of the Public Association “Rights and Development,” and media legal expert Khalid Agaliyev were detained.

That same evening, Khalid Agaliyev and Hafiz Hasanov were released.

By decision of the Binagadi District Court, Bashir Suleymanli and Mamed Alpay were placed under arrest for 3 months and 28 days pending investigation. They are accused of abuse of power, official forgery, and money laundering.

These articles provide for a penalty of up to 12 years of imprisonment.