UN experts urge release of Azerbaijani rights defender

UN experts alarmed by arbitrary detention of Azerbaijani human rights defender Mammadli

26 May 2025 UN independent experts on 26 May 2025 expressed grave concern over the continued detention of Anar Mammadli, a prominent Azerbaijani human rights defender who was arbitrarily detained on 29 April last year. “Defending human rights should never be considered a crime,” the experts said. Anar Mammadli, Chair of the Election Monitoring and Democracy Studies Centre (EMDS), was arrested on 29 April 2024 amid what experts describe as a grow…

UN experts urge release of Azerbaijani rights defender

Geneva (AFP) May 26, 2025 Four UN special rapporteurs on Monday demanded the release of Azerbaijani rights defender and climate advocate Anar Mammadli, who has been in detention for more than a year. Mammadli was detained on April 29, 2024. His arrest was one of a series which critics said undermined Azerbaijan's credibility as a host of the United Nations COP29 climate change conference in November last year. Ma