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Tofig Yagublu sentenced to 9 years of imprisonment

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Elnur Mammadov, who faced charges with him, has been sentenced to 8 years in prison.

The final hearing of the criminal case involving Tofig Yagublu, a member of the Musavat Party and the National Council’s Coordination Center, and Elnur Mammadov, who faced charges alongside him, was conducted.

Today, at the Baku Court of Serious Crimes, presided over by Judge Elnur Nuriyev and with judges Azar Taghiyev and Kamran Mukhtarov in attendance, Tofig Yagublu delivered his final statement.

In his final statement, the political activist revealed that four criminal cases had been initiated against him, with the previous three trials resulting in guilty verdicts and subsequent sentences.

“I firmly assert that all these criminal and administrative charges are as relevant to Ilham Aliyev personally, to those who present themselves as judges here, to the person who claims to speak as the state prosecutor, to the court clerk, and to those sitting in this hall, as they are to me. All the accusations are entirely fabricated, are directly tied to my role as an opposition politician.” he said in his final statement.

The court subsequently delivered its verdict, sentencing Tofig Yagublu to 9 years in prison and Elnur Mammadov to 8 years.

The state prosecutor had requested that Tofig Yagublu be sentenced to 10 years, and Elnur Mammadov to 9 years.

Tofig Yagublu was arrested on December 14, 2023. He faced charges under the Criminal Code articles 178.3.2 (Fraud – committed in a manner causing significant damage), 320 (Forgery of official documents, state awards, seals, stamps, forms; illegal production, sale, or use of counterfeit documents), 320.1 (Forgery or illegal production of documents or other official papers with the intention of using them for granting rights or exemptions, or selling such documents, as well as the production or sale of counterfeit state awards, stamps, seals, or forms of the Republic of Azerbaijan), and 320.2 (Using knowingly forged documents as specified in article 320.1).

According to the charges, a person named Elshan Huseynov gave 25,000 euros and 10,000 manats to Tofig Yagublu through Elnur Mammadov to go to Germany and obtain citizenship there.

Tofig Yagublu denied these charges, stating that they were fabricated and that he had not taken a single manat from anyone.

The politician stated that he never had such a conversation with Elshan Huseynov or Elnur Mammadov and claimed that they were involved in the case for subversive purposes.

During the investigation, Elnur Mammadov was involved as a suspect. He was charged under articles 178 (fraud) and 320 (forgery and use of forged documents). A detention order was also issued for him.

Throughout his political career, Tofig Yagublu has been subjected to administrative and long-term imprisonment multiple times.

In 2013, he was arrested for organizing protests in Ismayilli and sentenced to 5 years in prison. He was released under a pardon decree in 2017. Later, on March 22, 2020, he was arrested on charges of hooliganism. It was alleged that he caused a car accident near the “8th Kilometer Market,” then insulted and injured the driver and his wife. He was sentenced to 4 years and 3 months in prison by the Nizami District Court.

Immediately after the verdict, on September 2, 2020, Tofig Yagublu declared a hunger strike in protest of what he described as judicial injustice. He continued the strike for 17 days. Due to his deteriorating health, he was transferred from the investigation detention facility to a clinic. On September 18, the Baku Court of Appeals decided to place him under house arrest. On July 15, 2021, the Baku Court of Appeals replaced his 4 years and 3 months sentence with a suspended sentence.

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Azerbaijan, Armenia Release Text of U.S.-Brokered Peace Deal — Constitutional Dispute Remains Key Obstacle

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By Azeri Times
August 11, 2025

Azerbaijan and Armenia have published the text of a preliminary U.S.-brokered peace agreement that pledges to formally end nearly four decades of hostility, but key hurdles remain before the deal can be signed.

The agreement, initialled by the countries’ foreign ministers in Washington on August 8, was unveiled on Monday and commits both sides to recognize each other’s territorial integrity, renounce any claims on the other’s land, and refrain from the use of force. The text was reached in a trilateral meeting hosted by U.S. President Donald Trump with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at the White House.

“This agreement is a solid foundation for establishing a reliable and lasting peace… that reflects the balanced interests of the two countries,” Pashinyan wrote on Facebook.

The deal marks the most significant diplomatic breakthrough in the South Caucasus since Azerbaijan regained full control over Nagorno-Karabakh in 2023 — a move that prompted almost the entire ethnic Armenian population of the enclave to flee to Armenia. The decades-long conflict over the mountainous region has defined relations between the two former Soviet republics since the late 1980s, with wars in the 1990s, 2020, and 2023 leaving tens of thousands dead.

Foreign Forces and Border Security

One of the most striking clauses in the agreement is a ban on the deployment of third-party forces along the shared border, a provision widely seen as targeting Russia, which has maintained peacekeepers in the region since 2020. Moscow — traditionally a key broker and Armenia’s ally — was excluded from the U.S.-led negotiations and has warned against “foreign meddling.”
The European Union, Turkey, and NATO welcomed the accord. The EU has a monitoring mission on Armenia’s border, which Baku has repeatedly demanded be withdrawn.

The Constitutional Roadblock

Despite the breakthrough, the peace deal remains unsigned. Baku insists that Armenia must amend its constitution, which Azerbaijan says contains implicit territorial claims against it. “Yerevan has some homework to do,” Aliyev told reporters in Washington. “After those changes are made, the peace agreement can be signed at any time.”

Pashinyan has called for a referendum on constitutional changes but has yet to set a date. The issue could prove politically explosive in Armenia, where nationalist factions strongly oppose any revisions they see as capitulating to Baku’s demands.

Geopolitical Stakes

If signed, the deal could reshape the South Caucasus, an energy-rich region bordering Russia, Iran, Turkey, and the EU. The agreement would reopen closed borders, ease transit, and unlock trade routes criss-crossed by oil and gas pipelines.
Notably, the White House secured exclusive U.S. development rights to a new strategic transit corridor through southern Armenia linking mainland Azerbaijan to its Nakhchivan exclave. The corridor would provide direct overland access to Turkey, a key Azerbaijani ally, and has long been a sticking point in peace talks.

For now, the peace remains tantalizingly close but still out of reach — hostage to constitutional reform in Armenia and deep-seated mistrust on both sides.

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Trump-backed peace push leaves Azerbaijan and Armenia one step from final accord, top diplomat says

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Trump-backed peace push leaves Azerbaijan and Armenia one step from final accord, top diplomat says

By Andrew Osborn(Reuters) -A peace push backed by U.S. President Donald Trump leaves Azerbaijan and Armenia just one step from a final peace deal and is a paradigm shift in the strategically important South Caucasus region, a top Azerbaijani diplomat said on Saturday.Trump welcomed Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in the White House on Friday and witnessed their signing of a joint declaration aimed at drawing a line under their decades-long on-off conflict…
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Trump announces peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia

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Trump announces peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia

Trump announces peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia
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