Azerbaijani researcher Bahruz Samadov has been remanded to jail for four months of pre-trial detention as prosecutors plan to charge him with treason. Samadov, who insists he is innocent, reportedly said he will go on a hunger strike. 

Samadov was taken into custody on August 21. During a hearing at Sabayil District Court in Baku on August 23, he was ordered detained under suspicion of violating Article 274 of Azerbaijan’s Criminal Code, which covers conduct detrimental to “the sovereignty, territorial integrity, state security or defensibility of the Azerbaijan Republic.” Conviction under Article 274 carries a prison term of 12-20 years.

Authorities have not elaborated on the circumstances surrounding Samadov’s detention. Relatives say that a lawyer they have retained, Zibeyda Sadigova, has not been able to confer with her client yet, according to a report distributed by RFE/RL’s Azeri-language service.

The criminal case against Samadov reportedly stems from freelance writings and interviews he has given in recent years in which he has been a vocal critic of Azerbaijan’s conduct of its military campaign to regain control of Nagorno-Karabakh. Samadov has contributed to a wide variety of media outlets, including Eurasianet.

An August 23 report published by OC Media, another outlet to which Samadov has contributed, quoted Samadov as saying he has “never betrayed” his country.

Samadov’s case appears to be part of a fresh wave of arrests aimed at muzzling independent voices in Azerbaijan. In late July, Azerbaijani authorities remanded an ethnic Talysh scholar, Igbal Abilov, to four months of pre-trial detention, also on suspicion of violating Article 274 and other criminal offenses. On August 23, OC Media reported that another of its contributors, Samad  Shikhi, had been detained at Baku’s airport as he was trying to leave the country.