On March 14, four independent human rights defenders were detained throughout the day in Baku by employees of the General Prosecutor's Office.

Their relatives informed "Abzas Media" about this. It was reported that the head of the "Institute for Civil Rights" Bashir Suleymanli, the head of the "Law and Development" Public Union Hafiz Hasanov, the head of the "Election Monitoring Alliance” Mammad Mammadzade, and the coordinator of the "Media Law" Institute Khalid Agaliyev were detained.

In the evening, Hafiz Hasanov and Khalid Agaliyev were released. However, criminal charges were brought against Mammad Mammadzade and Bashir Suleymanli under Articles 193-1.3.2 (Legalization of property obtained through criminal means when committed in a large amount), 308.2 (Abuse of official powers resulting in grave consequences or committed with the intent to influence election (referendum) results), and 313 (Official forgery) of the Criminal Code.

By the decision of the Binagadi District Court, a pretrial detention measure of 3 months and 28 days was chosen for Bashir Suleymanli and Mammad Mammadzade.

Since November 2023, the second mass repression against the media and civil society in Azerbaijan in the last ten years has begun. According to reports by human rights defenders, there are currently more than 350 political prisoners in the country.

As part of the crackdown, independent journalists, human rights defenders, and opposition activists are being systematically summoned for interrogation in various criminal cases. Those detained assert that their arrests are politically motivated and that the charges against them are fabricated.