On January 15, by the decision of the Binagadi District Court, chaired by Judge Abbas Rzayev, a preventive measure in the form of arrest was imposed on Rufat Safarov for a period of 3 months and 26 days. According to his lawyer, Bahruz Bayramov, Safarov did not admit to the charges in court, calling them "absurd and ridiculous." On January 22, the Binagadi District Court replaced the arrest with house arrest. On February 12, Rufat Safarov was summoned for questioning at the
Anti-Corruption Directorate of the General Prosecutor's Office. Before the questioning, he told
Voice of America: "I hadn’t been invited to the office for a month, despite being the accused, but today, I was invited right after I gave an interview to the
Azadliq newspaper yesterday." On March 8, he published an article titled "The Murder of the Law" (
az. Hüququn qətli) in Azadliq, where he sharply criticized the country's law enforcement agencies and government. On May 4, the Binagadi District Court extended Safarov's house arrest for another 3 months. The preliminary investigation of the criminal case, which was led by Rashad Bashirov, an investigator from the Main Directorate for Combating Corruption at the General Prosecutor's Office, was completed on June 27, and the case was forwarded to the Lankaran Court for Serious Crimes for trial. On July 25, a preparatory hearing took place at the Lankaran Court for Serious Crimes, chaired by Judge Asim Gadjiev, in the case of Rufat Safarov. Safarov himself denies the charges and considers the criminal case to be fabricated. He stated that the criminal case against him is fictitious and has no valid grounds. During the hearing, Safarov's lawyer, Bahruz Bayramov, filed a motion for the dismissal of the case on grounds of acquittal. However, the motion was not considered. Following this, the state prosecutor, Aydin Aliyev, requested that the criminal case be forwarded to court for trial. As a result, the court decided to transfer the case to trial. On August 8, during the court hearing, state prosecutor Aydin Aliyev presented the indictment. According to the case materials, in 2014, Rufat Safarov allegedly received bribes from several individuals: 1000 manat from the chairman of the
Əlibəyli rural municipality (a village in the Zardab District), Elchin Khalilov; 700 manat from Alamdar Abbasov, an employee of the district's electricity network; 500 manat from Mansur Panahov, an employee of the Zardab Veterinary Department; and 3000 manat from Eldaniz Abdullayev, the head of the culture and tourism department. Safarov rejected the charges, calling them defamation rather than an indictment. He believes the real reason for the criminal case against him is his public criticism of the prosecutor's office. He also noted that he had received personal gratitude from the
Prosecutor General,
Zakir Garalov, for his good work. "If I were a bribed official, why would they thank me?" Safarov pointed out. On September 7, witnesses were questioned in court. Some witnesses did not confirm the testimony they had given during the preliminary investigation, while others stated they were unaware of the specific bribe that Safarov allegedly received. Despite these discrepancies, the state prosecutor made a statement and requested the court to sentence Safarov to 10 years of imprisonment. On September 8, the final court hearing in the case of Rufat Safarov took place. The Lankaran Court for Serious Crimes handed down a sentence of 9 years in prison, and Safarov was arrested in the courtroom. In an interview, his lawyer, Bahruz Bayramov, called the verdict "shameful." "The court’s decision was made without allowing the defendant his final word. This will remain in Azerbaijan’s judicial history as the court that passed a verdict without the defendant’s last statement. It’s a huge disgrace," he remarked. Commenting on the decision to arrest him, Safarov said, "This is repression against me. They are simply trying to crush me under the wheels of the repressive machine." According to the court's decision, Safarov was transferred to the Baku Investigative Detention Center in the
Zabrat settlement. In October,
Leyla Yunus, the head of the Institute for Peace and Democracy;
Ogtay Gulaliyev, coordinator of the Public Alliance Azerbaijan Without Political Prisoners; and Elshan Gasanov, head of the Center for Monitoring Political Prisoners, considered Safarov's
arrest to be politically motivated. They declared him a political prisoner and called for his immediate release. In October, the Shirvan Appeal Court reviewed the appeal against Safarov's sentence. During the trial, chaired by Judge Alesger Novruzov, several motions submitted by Safarov's lawyer, Bahruz Bayramov, were not accepted. Safarov, in his speech, stated that this was an unjust court and that they were ultimately carrying out a political order. According to the final decision made on December 22, Rufat Safarov's appeal was rejected, and the 9-year prison sentence was upheld. In July 2017, Rufat Safarov's cassation appeal was considered. Lawyers Bahruz Bayramov, Yalchin Imanov, and Fariz Namazli argued that Safarov was innocent, that the charges had not been proven during the investigation and trial, and that both the investigation and trials had been conducted in violation of the law. The lawyers requested the court to terminate the criminal case and acquit Rufat Safarov. During the trial, chaired by Judge Gulzar Rzayeva, the
Supreme Court did not accept Safarov's appeal. In the hearing, Safarov declared, "The court will follow the instructions of
Ilham Aliyev’s regime, regardless of its composition." == Cruel treatment and torture in Correctional Facility No. 9 ==