Number of Political Prisoners in Azerbaijan Reported at 328

The Union for the Freedom of Azerbaijan’s Political Prisoners has released an updated list of individuals it considers political prisoners in the country. The list, published on May 13, includes 328 names. This marks a decrease compared to the list published in January, which contained 340 names.

The list was prepared by human rights defenders Leyla Yunus and Elshan Hasanov based on the political prisoner criteria of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).

According to the report’s authors, 31 people were released in recent months as a result of an amnesty. Of them, 30 were religious believers and one was civil society activist Rza Safarsoy.

At the same time, human rights defenders say a new wave of arrests targeting religious believers has begun in recent months. According to human rights activist Arif Yunus, more than 220 Shiite believers have been detained between late February and mid-May, and the arrests are continuing.

The largest group on the list consists of religious believers, numbering 182 people. The list also includes 44 opposition and civil society activists, 31 journalists and bloggers, and 8 human rights defenders classified as political prisoners.