Three steps David Cameron can take to help detained anti-corruption activist in Azerbaijan

Dozens of campaigners and organisations have written to Lord David Cameron today urging him to help secure the release of a London-based academic who is being held on trumped-up charges in Azerbaijan.

The 47 campaigners and organisations include the UK Anti-Corruption Coalition, Global Witness, Human Rights Watch, Transparency International UK and Spotlight on Corruption as well as a raft of leading academics.

Dr Gubad Ibadoghlu, a visiting professor at the London School of Economics (LSE) and renowned Azerbaijani anti-corruption activist, has been imprisoned since July 23rd, 2023 on politically motivated charges.

If found guilty of dealing with counterfeit money and allegedly possessing extremist material, the 52-year-old could face up to 17 years in prison.

The letter asks the Foreign Secretary to meet with Dr Ibadoghlu’s family as soon as possible to discuss support and possible next steps.

Secondly, it asks him to consider measures like sanctions against the ruling elite that own vast wealth in UK property.

Finally, the letter asks the Foreign Secretary to use this year’s COP climate summit which is being held in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku as an opportunity to engage with the government on its continuing human rights abuses.

In recent years, the European Court of Human Rights has found a “troubling pattern” of arrests and detention of government critics in Azerbaijan.

Independent organisations estimate there are nearly 300 political prisoners held in the former-Soviet state, including journalists, activists and opposition politicians.

After being ambushed and arrested, Dr Ibadoghlu was held in a dingy cell with two other prisoners and unclean drinking water for nine months.

The father of three suffered severely in prison due to his type 2 diabetes and hypertension, putting him at high risk of having a heart attack.

Despite numerous requests from his family and a letter from the ECHR demanding he be immediately transferred to a hospital, he was denied proper medical care.

Writing for the Daily Express, Senior Coalition Coordinator Peter Munro and Communications Manager Stevie Wolfe said:

“Dr Gubad Ibadoghlu has done much to highlight what’s wrong in Azerbaijan. Tragically, he has now become a living embodiment of it.

“The renowned academic and campaigner has spent his career highlighting countless examples of alleged corruption, repression and human rights abuses in Azerbaijan.

“He helped raise awareness of the “Azerbaijani Laundromat”, for example, where Azeri ruling elites allegedly “laundered” dirty money through Danish banks and UK-affiliated shell companies.

“He’s so internationally respected that he’s consulted by the World Bank for his analysis of Azerbaijan’s economy.

“After languishing in a prison cell for nine months, he is now under house arrest and his family says he’s at such grave risk of heart attack that he’ll likely have to undergo surgery. (Which is, in a very Kafka-esque fashion, impossible – he’s ineligible for proper hospital treatment because the Azeri government have confiscated his ID.)

“On top of all that, Dr Ibadoghlu is still, of course, awaiting trial on politically motivated charges.

“So we’ve written to the Foreign Secretary urging him to do three things now.

“Firstly, to talk to Dr Ibadoghlu’s family to discuss how the UK can help secure his freedom and address his serious health concerns.

“Secondly, to consider measures like sanctions, which could prove a highly effective deterrent for a ruling elite that owns vast wealth in UK property.

“Finally, to use this year’s COP climate summit as an opportunity to engage with Azerbaijan on its continuing human rights abuses.

“Britain is in a good position to act because we have deep trade links to Azerbaijan, particularly in oil and gas.

“For decades, British governments courted Russia too, allowing suspicious money to flow in unchecked while countless human rights abuses were perpetrated by Putin’s regime.

“UK companies moved that wealth anonymously, UK property was used as a safe and secretive place to hide it, and UK professionals enabled it all, from boutique financiers to high end lawyers and reputation laundering PR pros.

“Our softly-softly approach conditioned President Putin to assume he could do anything he pleased without meaningful consequences. Look how that ended up.

“The UK has long claimed to support a “rules-based system”. This case is an opportunity – more than that, an obligation – to show we mean it.”