South Azerbaijani writer and rights activist, Mr. Naghi Ahmadi Azer was arrested on July 1st 2015 and transferred to Tabriz Penitentiary to serve his conviction of 5 years in prison for “espionage and possession of firearms”, the charge Mr. Ahmadi Azer denounces as baseless and bogus. The writer was beaten up by the arresting intelligence officers and sustained serious injuries. He was treated in Mahallati Hospital of Tabriz for broken skull and a broken leg before getting transferred to prison.

Naghi Ahmadi Azer was detained along with Mohammad Jahangirzade, Mahammad Alipur, Qasim Sultanli, and Reza Hemmatju 4 years ago upon his return from the Republic of Azerbaijan. He was held in solitary confinement of Iran’s spy agency -Ettelaat in Tabriz for 5 months where he was subjected to extreme interrogation procedures including mental and physical tortures and then was charged with “Espionage for Azerbaijan against Interests of Armenia and Possession of firearms”

He and other suspects were released on bail followed by a summary trial before Iran’s infamous Islamic Revolutionary Tribunal which issued a conviction and sentenced Mr. Ahmadi Azer to 5 years incarceration and 10 years of travel ban to the Republic of Azerbaijan. The other activists were also convicted and sentenced to 2.5 to 3 years in prison.

Naghi Ahmadi Azer is the author of many books in Az-Turkic and Farsi including “The Turkic Language and History of Azerbaijan”. He maintains his innocence and says that his visits to Azerbaijan were merely participation in open literature conferences.