Azerbaijani Labor Activist Sara Rahimova Reports Travel Ban and Wanted Status

Labor rights activist and board member of the “Workers’ Table” Trade Unions Confederation, Sara Rahimova, says she has been placed on a wanted list, subjected to a criminal investigation and barred from leaving Azerbaijan.

According to Rahimova, she learned of the measures on 21 February while attempting to collect her foreign passport at ASAN Service Center No. 3 in Baku. She was informed that a criminal case had been opened against her and was taken to Police Station No. 22, after which officers from the Sabail District Police Department brought her in for questioning.

At the police department, Rahimova was told that a criminal case had been initiated against her in 2024, that she had been declared wanted and that a travel ban had been imposed. She says she has not been informed of any charges.

Rahimova stated that she had never previously been summoned or questioned in connection with a criminal case and had received no official notification that an investigation was under way. She also noted that she lives openly in Baku and has travelled abroad and returned multiple times without restriction.

The activist was later released. She said the investigator handling the case was not present and that she would be contacted at a later date.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs did not respond to requests for comment.

Rahimova linked the case to her labor and civic activism. The “Workers’ Table” Trade Unions Confederation, founded in 2022, has faced ongoing pressure, with its chairman Afiaddin Mammadov and members Aykhan Israfilov, Elvin Mustafayev and Mohyaddin Orujov currently in detention on various charges. All have rejected the accusations as politically motivated.