Rauf Mirgadirov

Rauf Habibulla oghlu Mirgadirov (; born 1961) is an Azerbaijani columnist and journalist. He has worked for the Baku based Russian-language newspaper Zerkalo. A believer in "citizen diplomacy" between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Mirgadirov was arrested for allegedly spying for Armenia and was detained since April 2014. In December 2015, he was found guilty and sentenced to six years of prison. Following an appeal of his case, the ruling was upheld in March 2016, but Mirgadirov was released on suspended sentence.

Life and career Rauf Mirgadirov was born in Baku, Azerbaijan in 1961. Mirgadirov studied journalism at Azerbaijan State University and graduated from there. After graduation he worked in the publishing house "Azerneshr." Rauf Mirgadirov was part of the newspaper "Azadlig" (Freedom) in its initial years. In December 1989, he was in Jalilabad District during clashes between internal forces and the local population. Since 1991, he engaged in journalism and worked in the newspaper "Ayna-Zerkalo" ("Ayna" being the Azerbaijani version of the newspaper).

During the state of emergency Rauf Mirgadirov and a group of other journalists produced newspaper "Bizim Yol" (Our way). Thereafter, since the mid-1990s, Mirgadirov worked at the "Shargh" news agency. He was then deputy editor of the magazine "Monitor" and edited the opposition newspaper "Azerbaijan Democrática". He also became the chief editor of "Millet" newspaper.

Rauf Mirgadirov has participated in various international conferences on the issues and settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. While in Armenia, Mirgadirov, a member of Institute for Peace and Democracy (IPD), held meetings with Armenian NGOs.

In 2005, Mirgadirov was awarded the title "Honored Journalist of Azerbaijan" by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. Mirgadirov was arrested on charges of spying for Armenia. The deportation of Mirgadirov to Azerbaijan was made immediately after Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's visit to Baku. This sequence of events made Mirgadirov's lawyer assume that the deportation was due to an arrangement between Azerbaijan and Turkey.

The charges stem from Mirgadirov's visits to Armenia between 2008 and 2009, where he allegedly transferred information to Armenian intelligence about Azerbaijan's political and military status which include "photos and schemes to be used against Azerbaijan."

International condemnation Rauf Mirgadirov's arrest was condemned by the Human Rights Watch, European Union officials, World Organisation Against Torture, Committee to Protect Journalists, Reporters Without Borders, United States Mission to the OSCE, and others.

Amnesty International states that Mirgadirov has been "arrested on what appear to be trumped-up charges of spying for Armenia." Reporters Without Borders spokesman Johann Bihr said "The grave charges brought against Mirqadirov are totally absurd and fool no one. He is just the latest victim of the Azerbaijani government's campaign to eradicate its media critics. How could this journalist have transmitted state secrets to which he did not have access?" In its statement the Committee to Protect Journalists spokeswoman Nina Ognianova stated: "We call on Azerbaijani authorities to drop these trumped-up charges and stop abusing the law to silence independent reporting on the country, Azerbaijan is quickly becoming one of the leading jailers of journalists in the Eurasia region."

Personal life Rauf Mirgadirov has a wife and three daughters. His wife, two daughters and Rauf have fled Azerbaijan and have been granted political asylum in Switzerland.