As the second anniversary of the arrest of human rights activist Anar Mammadli approaches, Azadeh Rojan, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) General Rapporteur on political prisoners, called on Azerbaijan to release him. Rojan stated that the numerous charges, according to PACE, are retaliatory measures for Mammadli's civic activism, independent election monitoring, and cooperation with international organizations.
Former senator from Karachay-Cherkessia, Rauf Arashukov, who was sentenced to life imprisonment, received an additional 10 years in prison. He was found guilty of bribing an employee of the Black Dolphin prison. The court also fined him 120 million rubles and confiscated the bribe—3 million.
According to investigators, Arashukov attempted to bribe a prison employee to obtain preferential treatment: more phone calls, visits with family members, and packages, as well as the opportunity to choose his job.
Federation Council member Rauf Arashukov was arrested in 2019. In December 2022, a court sentenced him and his father, Raul Arashukov, to life imprisonment for criminal activity and contract killings. During his sentence, the former senator repeatedly tried unsuccessfully to secure a contract with the Ministry of Defense to participate in the "SVO."