An Azerbaijani researcher and freelance journalist, Bahruz Samadov, has reportedly been detained in Baku on suspicion of engaging in anti-state activities. 

Samadov, a contributor to a variety of media outlets including Eurasianet, was last heard from in the late afternoon of August 21. Friends and relatives say that he was taken into custody by representatives of Azerbaijan’s security service. RFE/RL reported that a public defender phoned Samadov’s grandmother in Baku, informing her that her grandson “is being accused of treason.” 

Rights activists have linked Samadov’s detention to an ongoing crackdown carried out by the Azerbaijani government to silence opposition politicians and independent journalists. 

“We’re concerned about the detention of Bahruz Samadov whom the Azerbaijani authorities have accused of treason,” Gulnoza Said, the Europe and Central Asia program coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists, said in a statement given to Eurasianet. 

“The critical reports and penetrating analysis that Samadov has been known for does not equate treason, and the authorities must either produce evidence of their allegations, or let Samadov free,” Said continued. “Azerbaijan has cracked down on independent media in recent months and has currently a record high number of journalists in detention for doing their job.” 

Samadov is a doctoral student at CharlesUniversity in Prague. He has also been a frequent analyst for a wide variety of print and broadcast outlets, offering unvarnished analysis on current affairs, including the conduct of Azerbaijan’s campaign to recapture Nagorno-Karabakh. No Azerbaijani government agency has as of late August 22 confirmed that Samadov is in custody, and, if so, what the reason for his detention is.

“News of Bahruz Samadov’s arrest is alarming, given the deepening suppression of independent voices in Azerbaijan,” said Eurasianet’s board chair, Jeffrey Trimble. “Azerbaijani authorities should substantiate in a transparent and timely manner their reason for taking Bahruz into custody, or let him go free. We will be closely monitoring his case.”