Azerbaijan’s Supreme Court has upheld the conviction and nine-year prison sentence of a prominent opposition activist concluding a more than two-year legal process that one rights group has characterized as “a serious departure from the rule of law.”

Tofig Yagublu, a former journalist and leading member of the opposition Musavat party, was taken into custody in late 2023 and subsequently convicted early last year on charges of forgery and fraud. The Supreme Court rejected his appeal on April 2.

Prior to the Supreme Court hearing, the Clooney Foundation for Justice’s Trial Watch Initiative released a report on the case, indicating that every step of the process was guided by political considerations and was marred by numerous procedural violations that denied the defendant a fair trial.

“The prosecution of Tofig Yagublu between 2023 and 2025 violated international fair trial rights specified in the European Convention on Human Rights (“ECHR”) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (“ICCPR”),” the report states.

It added that “Yagublu’s prosecution amounted to an abuse of judicial process that, based on the context, reflect[s] an improper ulterior motive to hinder and deter [his] activities as a journalist and opposition leader.”

At the time of his conviction in 2025, Amnesty International stated that “Tofig Yagublu’s sentencing is yet another grim milestone in Azerbaijan’s ongoing campaign to silence those who dare to criticize the government.”

Yagublu, 65, has long been a target of government harassment. He was released from prison in 2016 after serving a three-year term, and then had another prison stint in 2020.

Freedom House in its latest report on the state of basic freedoms globally asserts that power in Azerbaijan’s authoritarian regime remains heavily concentrated in the hands of Ilham Aliyev, who has served as president since 2003, and his extended family.” It goes on to note that corruption is rampant, and all forms of dissent have been crushed. “Authorities have carried out an extensive crackdown on civil liberties in recent years, leaving little room for independent expression or activism,” it states.