Free Bahruz Samadov

International Academic Community Calls for the Release of Young Azerbaijani Scholar Bahruz Samadov

(to sign  the letter please click here)

With this letter, we, the undersigned, want to express our deepest concern about the arrest, pre-trial detention and accusation of treason of Bahruz Samadov in Azerbaijan and demand his immediate release. 

Bahruz Samadov is a doctoral student at the Faculty of Social Sciences of Charles University in Prague. On 21 August 2024, when he was visiting Baku, Samadov was detained by Azerbaijan’s State Security Service. On 23 August 2024, it became known that he had been charged with 'high treason' and that he would remain imprisoned during (at least) a 4-month pre-trial detention. Based on the limited information available, the accusations appear to be directly related to Samadov's research and advocacy interests in peace in the South Caucasus and his meetings with Armenian counterparts at civil society and academic fora.

We are deeply concerned by Samadov’s detention, and by the accusation of treason. We understand this as an attempt to stifle the ongoing peace-building efforts in the South Caucasus, and to silence critical voices that oppose violence and war. We find this unacceptable and at odds with the government’s discourse about progress towards peace. 

We are equally concerned about the recent upsurge in arrests and prosecutions of other researchers, activists and journalists in Azerbaijan. We join the call of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and of PEN America to release the 23 journalists and media workers unjustly imprisoned in Azerbaijan in the run-up to the UN Climate Change Conference (or COP29), as well as academic researchers and peace activists such as Bahruz Samadov.

With this letter we call on the government of Azerbaijan to immediately release Bahruz Samadov and other political prisoners in Azerbaijan from detention and to respect their human rights. 

We call on the Czech Republic, where Bahruz Samadov resides and works, the European Union, and other countries in Europe and beyond, to make strong and immediate efforts towards the release of Bahruz Samadov and other political prisoners in Azerbaijan. 

We call on Charles University to closely monitor the situation with Bahruz Samadov and provide him with necessary support.

We call on the COP29 International Advisory Committee, but also all COP29 participants (in particular researchers), to keep the detention of Bahruz Samadov and other imprisoned Azerbaijani researchers, activists and journalists on the agenda when visiting Baku in November 2024.

Signatories (to sign click here)

Institutions

Populism Specialist Group (Political Studies Association)

Centre for the Study of Democracy, Signification and Resistance (Vrije Universiteit Brussel)

ECHO - Media, Culture and Politics Research Group (Vrije Universiteit Brussel)

Centre on Ideology & Discourse Analysis (CIDA), University of Essex



Individuals


1. Benjamin De Cleen, associate professor, Vrije Universiteit Brussel  

2. Kirill Filimonov, postdoctoral researcher, Uppsala University  

3. Giorgos Venizelos, CEU Democracy Institute  

4. Nico Carpentier  

5. Altay Goyushov, Baku Research Institute  

6. Aude Merlin, Université Libre de Bruxelles  

7. Laurence Broers, associate fellow, Russia & Eurasia Programme, Chatham House  

8. Anita Khachaturova, doctoral candidate, Cevipol/ULB  

9. Naira Sahakyan, Assistant Professor, American University of Armenia  

10. Vicken Cheterian, University of Geneva  

11. Janos Kis, Senior CEU Fellow, Democracy Institute  

12. Laura Luciani, Postdoctoral researcher, Ghent University  

13. Dirk Geldof, University of Antwerp, Belgium  

14. Coline Maestracci, Université libre de Bruxelles  

15. Veronika Pfeilschifter, FSU Jena/ZOiS Berlin  

16. Derya Yüksek, CULCORC, Charles University  

17. Huguette Viala, membre de AFR  

18. Taline Papazian, Sciences Po  

19. Pr Marie-Pierre REY, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne  

20. Liliya Dyachenko, Sorbonne University  

21. Francesco Radicioli-Chini, Université de Strasbourg  

22. Ekaterina Gloriozova, Université libre de Bruxelles  

23. Caroline Gatsi, Student  

24. Valérie Pozner, CNRS (Thalim)  

25. Eric Aunoble, Senior Lecturer, University of Geneva  

26. Kristyna Koprivova, Charles University  

27. Yéléna Mac-Glandières, Institut Français de Géopolitique, Université Paris 8  

28. Yves Cohen, EHESS (France)  

29. Kirill Polkov, Postdoctoral research fellow, Södertörn University (Sweden)  

30. Longuet Marx, CETOBAC Paris (France)  

31. Eric Naiman, university of california, berkeley  

32. Anna Ohanyan, Stonehill College  

33. Sean Phelan, Massey University  

34. Gaëlle Le Pavic, Ghent University - United Nations University  

35. Andreas Eder-Ramsauer, University of Vienna  

36. Olivier Jutel, University of Otago  

37. Julius Schneider, University of Essex  

38. Louise Amoris, UGent  

39. Craig Love, University of Essex International College  

40. Max Soar, Victoria University of Wellington  

41. Millie Light, Nottingham Trent University  

42. Alix Debray, Ghent University  

43. Séagh Kehoe, University of Westminster  

44. Tony Carusi, Massey University  

45. Marc Elie, CNRS  

46. Anne Le Huérou, Assistant professor  

47. Katy Brown, Maynooth University  

48. Daniel Tsui, University of York  

49. Briar Dickey, Vrije Universiteit Brussel  

50. Weyembergh Anne, ULB  

51. Marina Fedorovsky, Université de Genève  

52. Martin Deleixhe, Université Libre de Bruxelles  

53. Jason Glynos, University of Essex  

54. Turkay Gasimova, European University Institute  

55. Gabrielle Chomentowski, Centre d'histoire sociale des mondes contemporains  

56. Vladimir Bortun, University of Oxford  

57. Laurent Coumel, CREE, INALCO (France)  

58. Panos Panayotu, Aarhus University  

59. Françoise Daucé, CERCEC / EHESS  

60. Andreas Heinrich, University of Bremen, Germany  

61. MgA. Sofiia Sorokina, Artist, researcher, musician  

62. Sandro Makhatadze, Acquaintance  

63. Evelyn Jeong, University of Trento, Italy  

64. Erin Jenne, Central European University  

65. Ayan Das, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Gour Banga, West Bengal  

66. Zhanna Vedmid  

67. Bela Greskovits, Professor Emeritus  

68. Istvan Perczel, Professor, Central European University, Department of Historical Studies  

69. Zsolt Körtvélyesi, CEU IR  

70. Zsolt Enyedi, CEU  

71. Reid Kleinberg, University of Essex  

72. Lone Sorensen, University of Leeds  

73. Thomas Fetzer, Central European University  

74. Xymena Kurowska, Central European University  

75. Lazaros Karavasilis, University of Bremen  

76. Sebastian Ronderos, Getulio Vargas Foundation  

77. Gijs Lambrechts, Vrije Universiteit Brussel  

78. Thomas Jacobs, UCLouvain  

79. Fatima Zahid Ali, Vrije Universiteit Brussels  

80. Stéphanie Cirac, CNRS  

81. Jana Goyvaerts, VUB  

82. Anar Koli, Soka University, Tokyo  

83. Anna Luo, Vrije Universiteit Brussel  

84. Daniel Kashnitsky, Paris Cité University  

85. Yazan Badran, Vrije Universiteit Brussel  

86. Bernadett Sebály, CEU Democracy Institute  

87. Pierre-Guillaume Méon, Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB)  

88. László Csaba, Fellow, Academia Europaea/London  

89. Damian Guzek, University of Silesia in Katowice  

90. Wladimir Yagello, Prêtre orthodoxe  

91. Sossi Tatikyan, Université Sorbonne Nouvelle  

92. Valeriane Mistiaen, Vrije Universiteit Brussel  

93. Alexander Mutnansky, Birkbeck College, University of London  

94. Javid Asadov, PhD Candidate, Maria Curie-Sklodowska University in Lublin  

95. Andres Laiapea, masters student, University of Tartu  

96. Anahit Kartashyan, PhD candidate  

97. Dora Matejak, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana  

98. Vanessa Voisin, Università di Bologna  

99. David Alan Rich, Catholic University of America  

100. Erica Capecchi, University of Bristol  

101. Rigmor Djernaes, Student  

102. Doris Manu, College of Europe  

103. Irina Tcherneva, CNRS  

104. Esther Korman, College of Europe  

105. Mark Soler, European University Institute  

106. Anush Petrosyan, Tampere Peace Research Institute (TAPRI)  

107.Jacques Vallin,Directeur de recherche émérite, Institut national d'études démographiques  

108. Victoria Abrahamyan, University of Geneva  

109. Beata Bienkowska, London School of Economics  

110. Sebastián Gerardo, College of Europe  

111. Edina Dóci, Université catholique de Louvain  

112. Marie Tuley, University of Sussex  

113. Evelyne Enderlein, Université Strasbourg  

114. Cédric Pernette, Sorbonne Université  

115. Pedro Camelo, PhD student at Uppsala University  

116. Anna Kwiatkiewicz, EU expert in social affairs  

117. Oleksandr Ruzevych, College of Europe  

118. Vadim Romashov, University of Eastern Finland  

119. Léonie de Jonge, University of Groningen  

120. Jonathan Collons, Charles University  

121. Uladzimir Valodzin, European University Institute, PhD candidate  

122. Thomás Zicman de Barros, University of Minho & Sciences Po Paris  

123. Igor Vobič, University of Ljubljana  

124. Aurelien Mondon, University of Bath  

125. Kamal Kariem, Williams College  

126. Andreas Schedler, CEU Democracy Institute  

127. Nicolaas P. Barr, University of Washington, Seattle  

128. Rosemary Overell, The University of Otago  

129. Lydie Denis, UCLouvain Saint-Louis  

130. Pierre-Etienne Vandamme, KU Leuven  

131. Dr. Pytrik Schafraad, Tilburg University (NED)  

132. Chris Hanretty, Royal Holloway, University of London  

133. Saskia Bonjour, University of Amsterdam  

134. Magdalena Breyer, University of Basel  

135. Rémi Wagenheim, College of Europe alumnus  

136. Maximilian Grönegräs, Vrije Universiteit Brussel  

137. Lucie Hunter, Scuola Normale Superiore  

138. Larissa Daria Meier, Bielefeld University  

139. Jacopo Custodi, Scuola Normale Superiore  

140. Jannis Grimm, Freie Universität Berlin  

141. Chares Demetriou, Lund University (Sweden)  

142. Kai Arzheimer, University of Mainz, Germany  

143. Diego Ceccobelli, University of Milan  

144. Vasiliki (Billy) Tsagkroni, Leiden University  

145. Nadezda Shchinova, Université catholique de Louvain  

146. Rodolphe Baudin, Sorbonne University  

147. Marco de Baar, NWO DIFFER  

148. Lisa Janssen, Ghent University  

149. Frederic Long, N/A  

150. Bogumil Jewsiewicki, Université Laval, Québec, Canada  

151. Théo Aiolfi, University of Burgundy  

152. Alexander Morrison, New College, Oxford and Oxford Nizami Ganjavi Centre  

153. Linda Bos, University of Amsterdam  

154. Juan Roch, Postdoctoral researcher at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid  

155. Prof. Dr. Bart Cammaerts, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)  

156. Geoffrey Pleyers, FNRS - University of Louvain, Belgium  

157. Luca Schollaert, College of Europe  

158. Georg Plattner, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)  

159. Pascal Gielen, Antwerp University  

160. Elmar Valizada, N/A  

161. Laure Delcour, Sorbonne Nouvelle  

162. Tim Peace, University of Glasgow  

163. Michael T. Heaney, University of Glasgow  

164. Diarmaid Kelliher, University of Glasgow  

165. David Featherstone, University of Glasgow  

166. Manelle Lepoix, Student  

167. Claire Mouradian, CNRS  

168. Eviya Hovhannisyan, Social Anthropologist  

169. Rhys Machold, University of Glasgow  

170. Silvia Serrano, Sorbonne University  

171. Mazlum Kemal Dağdelen, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic  

172. Violetta Zentai, Central European University  

173. Milena Sudolowicz, CoE

174. Giuseppe Ballacci, University of Minho  

175. Thiago Monteiro de Souza, University of Minho  

176. João Rosas, University of Minho  

177. Ines Zampaglione, CEPS, University of Minho  

178. Lena Marinova, University of Minho  

179. Vaia Doudaki, Desire member  

180. John Downey, Loughborough University, President ECREA  

181. Jelena Kleut, University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Philosophy, Serbia  

182. Norbert Šinković, Teaching Assistant, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Novi Sad  

183. Dragana Prodanović, University of Novi Sad  

184. Volker Grassmuck, Leibniz Institute for Media Research | Hans-Bredow-Institut, Hamburg  

185. Nevena Jevtić, University of Novi Sad, Serbia  

186. Professor Graham Murdock, Loughborough University  

187. Smiljana Milinkov, Associate Professor, University of Novi Sad  

188. José Gomes Pinto, Lusofona University - Lisbon  

189. Uwe Hasebrink, Leibniz Institute for Media Research | Hans-Bredow-Institut, Hamburg  

190. Simone Tosoni, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore di Milano  

191. Usha Raman, University of Hyderabad, India  

192. Joke Hermes, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands  

193. Michele Sorice, Sapienza University of Rome  

194. Christian Ruggiero, Sapienza University of Rome  

195. Boccia Artieri Giovanni, University of Urbino Carlo Bo  

196. Andrea Volterrani, University of Rome Tor Vergata  

197. Josef Seethaler, Austrian Academy of Sciences  

198. Dimitra Milioni, Associate Professor, Cyprus University of Technology  

199. Stelios Papathanassopoulos, University of Athens  

200. Helmut Peissl, COMMIT - Vienna  

201. Theodoros Kouros, Cyprus University of Technology  

202. Hannu Nieminen, University of Helsinki, Finland  

203. Dionysis Panos, Cyprus University of Technology  

204. Ali Dokumaci, Charles University  

205. Barbara Thomass, Ruhr-University of Bochum  

206. Maria Bakardjieva, University of Calgary, Canada  

207. Gregory Paschalidis, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece)  

208. Stefan Janjić, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Novi Sad  

209. Donald Matheson, University of Canterbury  

210. Peter Thompson, Victoria University of Wellington  

211. Conan Young, University of Canterbury, NZ, Journalism Course Co-ordinator  

212. Gerard Goggin, Professor, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University  

213. Dr. Emma Briant, Monash University  

214. Johan Lidberg, Monash University  

215. Bridget Backhaus, Senior Lecturer, Griffith University  

216. Andrew Dodd, Director, Centre for Advancing Journalism, University of Melbourne  

217. Erin Harrington, University of Canterbury  

218. Katherine Roff, University of Adelaide  

219. Dr. Greg Treadwell, Auckland University of Technology  

220. Jock Cheetham, Charles Sturt University 

221. Alexandra Wake, RMIT University  

222. Florence Fröhlig, Researcher  

223. Dr. Amanda Watson, Australian National University  

224. Adjunct Professor Kerry Green, University of South Australia  

225. Andrea Medrado, University of Exeter  

226. Julherme José Pires, Universidade Federal de São Paulo  

227. Adilson Vaz Cabral Filho, Fluminense Federal University  

228. Karen Santos, Fluminense Federal University  

229. Leonardo Firmino, IPSE  

230. Luiza Lusvarghi, Unicamp  

231. Lucas Martins Néia, University of São Paulo, Brazil  

232. Gazal Shekhawat, PhD Researcher, London School of Economics  

233. Simone do Vale, PhD in Communication  

234. Marcos Palacios, Universidade Federal da Bahia (Brazil)  

235. Beatriz Polivanov, Universidade Federal Fluminense (Brazil)  

236. Karina Moritzen, Universität Oldenburg  

237. Michael Adorjan, University of Calgary  

238. Vanessa Curvello, UFRGS  

239. Denise Tavares da Silva, Universidade Federal Fluminense - Brasil  

240. Iago Porfírio, UAM, México  

241. Laura Guimarães Corrêa, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil  

242. Jonas Valente, Oxford Internet Institute  

243. Tarcízio Macedo, Fluminense Federal University  

244. Enrique Amayo Zevallos, Retired Professor  

245. Irina Safaryan, Artsakh State University  

246. Leo Zawadzki, University of Westminster  

247. Alessandro Felippe, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (UFSM), Brazil  

248. Isabella Rega, Bournemouth University  

249. Pedro Henrique Conceição dos Santos, Universidade Federal Fluminense  

250. Dr. April-Rose Geers, Independent  

251. Dr. Louise Matthews, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand  

252. Andrea Mansoorian, Bright Garden Voices  

253. Yiannis Christidis, Cyprus University of Technology  

254. Mihalis Golias, Cyprus University of Technology  

255. Venetia Papa, Assistant Professor, Cyprus University of Technology  

256. Emily Kouzaridi, Cyprus University of Technology  

257. Theopisti Stylianou-Lambert, Cyprus University of Technology  

258. Panos Kompatsiaris, IULM  

259. Thalis Zis, Cyprus University of Technology  

260. Elizaveta Arkhipova, Charles University  

261. Maria José Brites, ULusofona  

262. Daniel Velasco Leão, UFSC  

263. Jeffrey Wimmer, University of Augsburg, Germany  

264. Katharina Schöppl, University of Bremen  

265. Omran Shroufi, Vrije Universiteit Brussel  

266. Costas Costa, Professor, Cyprus University of Technology  

267. Graciene Silva de Siqueira, Universidade Federal do Amazonas  

268. Tom Jacobson, Temple University (retired)  

269. Antonis Galanopoulos, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki  

270. Desislava Dankova, New Bulgarian University  

271. Maren Hartmann, Professor, Berlin University of the Arts  

272. Elizabeth Bastos, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul  

273. Gerry Sussman, Portland State University  

274. Dr. Anthony Löwstedt, Webster Vienna Private University  

275. Guy Hoskins, Toronto Metropolitan University  

276. Abiodun Salawu, North-West University, South Africa  

277. Paula Stehr, LMU Munich/University of Augsburg  

278. Sarah Cardey, University of Reading  

279. Panayiota Tsatsou, blank  

280. Moritz Schweiger, Communication Scholar at University of Augsburg  

281. Fabia Ioscote, Federal University of Paraná  

282. Gwyn Easterbrook-Smith, Massey University  

283. Ulises A. Mejias, State University of New York at Oswego  

284. Mirella Lopes de Aquino, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte  

285. Julija Jerneva, PhD Candidate  

286. Roy Krøvel, Oslo Metropolitan University  

287. Ma. del Carmen Rico Menge, Université du Québec à Montréal  

288. Julia Pohle, WZB Berlin Social Science Center  

289. Afshin Matin-asgari, History Professor, California State University, Los Angeles  

290. Ole Johnny Fossås, Stockholm University  

291. Maria Avraamidou, Erasmus University Rotterdam  

292. Irini Katsirea, University of Sheffield  

293. Teemu Oivo, University of Eastern Finland  

294. Delia Dumitrica, Erasmus University Rotterdam  

295. Natalie-Anne Hall, Cardiff University  

296. Jerome Bourdon, Department of Communication, Tel Aviv University  

297. Ani Sukiasyan, Charles University, PhD Student  

298. Terezia Roncakova, Professor at Catholic University in Ruzomberok, Slovakia  

299. João Cruz Ribeiro, University of Minho  

300. Naíde Feijó Müller Cajado Caldeira, Catholic University of Portugal  

301. Eduardo Antunes, University of Coimbra  

302. Fatma Elzahraa Elsayed, Professor  

303. Raya Khachatryan, Universidade Católica Portuguesa  

304. Sara Cannizzaro, University of Sheffield  

305. Benoit Cordelier, UQAM  

306. Kateryna Kasianenko, Queensland University of Technology  

307. Štěpán Šanda, Charles University  

308. Sanna Ryynänen, University of Jyväskylä  

309. Sunah Lee, Florida State University  

310. Valentina Baú, Western Sydney University  

311. Pantelis Vatikiotis, Panteion University  

312. Levente Littvay, CEU Democracy Institute 

313. Valerie Cooper, Victoria University of Wellington  

314. Isaac Lyne, Western Sydney University  

315. Tanya Notley, Western Sydney University  

316. Professor Ien Ang, Western Sydney University  

317. Rachel Daniels, Auckland University of Technology  

318. Tim Rowse, Western Sydney University  

319. Anuja Premika, University of Hyderabad  

320. Sonia Livingstone, London School of Economics and Political Science  

321. Aniruddha Jena, IIM Kashipur, India  

322. Natalia Márquez-Bustos, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana  

323. Michal Glowacki, University of Warsaw  

324. Beatrice Teissier, Oxford University  

325. Paula Nitschke, University of Augsburg  

326. Przemysław Kantorski, University of Silesia in Katowice  

327. Michał Rams-Ługowski, University of Silesia in Katowice  

328. Andreas Hepp, ZeMKI, University of Bremen  

329. Andrew Ó Baoill, University of Galway  

330. Nikhil Reddy Kondam, Ohio University  

331. Bonita Mason, University of South Australia  

332. Markus Behmer, Universität Bamberg, Germany  

333. L Derksen, Applied University of Leeuwarden  

334. Hartmut Wessler, University of Mannheim  

335. Pedro Vieira de Carvalho, UERJ (Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro)  

336. Elena Sotelo-Prol, University of Leeds  

337. Giuliana Sorce, University of Tübingen  

338. Čedomir Markov, Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, University of Belgrade  

339. Darian Harff, University of Vienna  

340. Lucie Cejkova, Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University  

341. Anat Ascher, The Open University of Israel  

342. Bogusława Dobek-Ostrowska, University of Wrocław  

343. Janne Nielsen, Aarhus University  

344. Uwe Krüger, Leipzig University  

345. Natascha Hetzel, University of Hohenheim

346. Carla Cerqueira, Associate Professor, Lusófona University, CICANT

347. Jose Paulo Oliveira, Lusófona University

348. Daniel Cardoso, Universidade Lusófona, Portugal

349. Jeanne Waltz, Universidade Lusófona

350. Carla Rodrigues Cardoso, Lusófona University

351. Susan Zachariah, Universidade Lusófona

352. Rita Grácio, Lusófona University

353. Paulo Viveiros, Universidade Lusófona

354. Nuno Miguel Cruz Silva, Universidade Lusófona

355. Marta Sousa, Universidade Lusófona

356. Sónia Lamy, Lusófona University

357. Sheila Khan, Lusófona University

358. Lucia Mesquita, Lusófona University

359. Ana Sofia Torres Pereira, CICANT

360. Tatiana Chervyakova, Universidade Lusófona

361. Beth Walker, PhD Student, Universidade Lusófona

362. Adriana Sá, CICANT/ Lusófona University

363. Catarina Rito, Lusófona University

364. Carla Sousa, Lusófona University, CICANT (Portugal)

365. Joana Bicacro, Universidade Lusófona (Lisboa)

366. Natália L. A., Universidade Lusófona

367. Teresa Maia e Carmo, Universidade Lusófona

368. Conceicao Costa, Universidade Lusófona

369. Mafalda Roma, Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa

370. Diaa Lagan, IADT

371. Margarida Santos, Lusófona University

372. Jacopo Wassermann, Universidade Lusófona

373. Teresa Sofia Pereira Dias de Castro, Universidade Lusófona, Portugal

374. Agnes Vilseki, Lusófona University

375. Amanda Cei, Lusófona University

376. Vitor Cei, UFES, Brazil

377. Karolína Šimková, Charles University

378. Diogo Vasconcelos, Universidade Lusófona

379. Ilo Alexandre, Universidade Lusófona

380. Lurdes Macedo, Lusófona University

381. Ana Cristina Ribeiro Pereira, University of Minho, Portugal

382. Louise Schulmann, Auburn University

383. Anabela Carvalho, University of Minho

384. Ana Cristina Suzina, Loughborough University London

385. P. Syperek, Loughborough University

386. Chiara Muzzi, Loughborough University London

387. Cristian Vaccari, University of Edinburgh

388. Claudia Magallanes, Universidad Iberoamericana Puebla