Judicial boundary: the direct gunman died at the scene. Four other men were convicted of assisting or conspiring with him. Their convictions do not mean that every disputed investigative theory was proved, and the archive records their torture allegations without treating those allegations as judicial findings.
A weekday morning at the academy
The Azerbaijan State Oil Academy was a major university in central Baku, training students for the country’s oil and engineering sectors. Classes had begun on the morning of 30 April 2009 when gunfire was reported in one of its buildings. Students, lecturers and employees were caught inside while police and emergency services surrounded the site.
Contemporaneous reporting initially contained uncertainty about the number of attackers and the casualty total. Some early reports described thirteen people killed without clearly separating the gunman. Later accounts consistently identified twelve victims killed and thirteen people wounded, with the attacker’s death counted separately. This archive follows that victim-centered count.
The victims included students and university staff. The page does not reproduce graphic descriptions or attempt to dramatize their final moments. The scale and location of the attack are sufficient to explain its national impact.
The shooting and identified gunman
Officials identified the attacker as Farda Gadirov, a Georgian citizen of Azerbaijani origin. Witness and police accounts described him moving through the academy building and firing at people he encountered. He died at the scene as police closed in. Some first reports differed over whether he killed himself or was shot by police; later official and trial reporting described his death as suicide.
Authorities said Gadirov was not a student or employee of the academy. No clear motive was established in the early public record. Officials initially characterized the shooting as a criminal act rather than a politically motivated terrorist attack, even though later prosecutions against alleged associates included terrorism charges.
Because Gadirov died, he was never tried. His identification as the gunman came from the official investigation and contemporaneous evidence described publicly, not from a verdict against him. The page uses “identified gunman” rather than “convicted murderer” to preserve that procedural fact.
The casualty record
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Reuters reported twelve students and staff members killed and thirteen others wounded. Early headlines that said at least thirteen people died appear to have included Gadirov. Counting the perpetrator together with victims would obscure the human toll, so the dossier states twelve victims killed and lists the attacker’s death separately.
The wounded included international students. Reports from the immediate aftermath described emergency surgery and hospital treatment, but public accounts changed as officials reconciled the casualty list. This archive does not repeat uncertain early medical details as settled outcomes.
Commemorations became part of the case’s aftermath. Students and residents attempted to lay flowers at the academy on later anniversaries. In April 2010, police dispersed a memorial gathering and detained participants. The European Court of Human Rights later considered the treatment of one participant in a case arising from the 2013 commemoration. Those civil-liberties issues are related to remembrance, not proof about the shooting itself.
The investigation and arrests
Within days, Azerbaijani police and prosecutors said Gadirov had not acted alone. Nadir Aliyev and Javidan Amirov were arrested, and authorities later brought proceedings against them with Arif Qabulov and Nacaf Suleymanov. Reports identified the defendants as ethnic Azerbaijanis originally from Georgia.
The prosecution accused the four men of offenses that included terrorism, conspiracy, smuggling, illegal weapons possession and aiding the gunman. An official security review also criticized the academy’s vulnerability, including unauthorized access and an emergency exit said to have been sealed. These institutional findings concerned prevention and building security; they did not by themselves prove each defendant’s criminal role.
Early official statements and witness accounts were not entirely consistent. Some witnesses reported more than one attacker, while authorities ultimately attributed the shooting inside the building to Gadirov and alleged assistance by others. The archive preserves that distinction instead of presenting every initial observation as a final investigative conclusion.
The 2010 trial
Preliminary hearings began in April 2010 at Baku’s Court for Serious Crimes. All four defendants pleaded not guilty. They said earlier confessions had been obtained through torture or coercion and asked the court to return the file for further investigation. The judge rejected that request.
During testimony, the defendants repeated allegations of abuse in custody. One described being suspended and subjected to electric shocks. RFE/RL reported that the court said medical examinations had found no evidence corroborating the torture claims. The archive records both the allegations and the court’s stated response; it does not independently determine what occurred in detention.
Defense lawyers also challenged parts of the prosecution’s account, including alleged financing, border controls and access to the academy. Prosecutors rejected those requests or described them as unfounded. These disputes show why the convictions should be reported defendant by defendant and without treating the prosecution narrative as uncontested.
Four convictions and sentences
On 10 August 2010, the Court for Serious Crimes convicted all four men. Nadir Aliyev, Javidan Amirov and Nacaf Suleymanov received life imprisonment. Arif Qabulov received an eleven-year prison sentence. Reporting described the convictions as covering conspiracy and offenses including terrorism, smuggling and illegal possession of weapons.
The defendants continued to deny any connection to the massacre. Family members and lawyers said they would appeal. The reviewed sources do not provide a complete, authoritative appellate history for all four men. The page therefore states the trial-court convictions and sentences while leaving later appellate finality bounded.
The convictions concern assistance, conspiracy and related conduct. They do not convert the four defendants into the people who personally killed the twelve victims. Gadirov remains identified as the direct gunman in the official account.
Motive, terrorism label and unresolved questions
No clear personal motive for Gadirov was established in reliable contemporaneous reporting. Later descriptions sometimes supplied psychological explanations or sensational quotations, but this archive does not elevate untested characterizations into a proven motive.
The classification also changed across official contexts. Presidential adviser Ali Hasanov initially described the shooting as a criminal act, not terrorism. The four later defendants were nevertheless prosecuted and convicted on terrorism-related charges. Rather than choose one label for every aspect of the event, the page describes it as a mass shooting and reports the charges actually used in court.
Questions about whether Gadirov had operational assistance, how weapons crossed the border and whether security failures enabled the attack were argued during the investigation and trial. The four convictions represent adjudicated responsibility at first instance, but the reviewed sources do not justify a broader claim about all planning or motive.
What is established and what remains bounded
It is established that twelve victims were killed and thirteen people wounded at the academy on 30 April 2009; that authorities identified Gadirov as the gunman; that he died at the scene; and that four other men were convicted and sentenced in August 2010.
It is also established that the defendants denied involvement, retracted confessions and alleged torture, and that the court said medical examinations did not corroborate their claims. Reporting available for this review does not establish the complete appellate outcome, a final motive for the gunman or the truth of every disputed investigative allegation.
The archive therefore classifies the case as adjudicated while attaching a clear boundary: the direct attacker was identified but never tried, four accessory convictions were entered, and contested investigation claims remain attributed.
Verified timeline
- 30 April 2009: twelve students and staff members are killed and thirteen people wounded at the State Oil Academy; Farda Gadirov dies at the scene.
- 1–4 May 2009: police arrest Nadir Aliyev and Javidan Amirov and say the gunman did not act alone.
- April 2010: prosecutors criticize security conditions at the academy and preliminary court hearings begin.
- April–July 2010: four defendants deny the charges, retract confessions and allege torture.
- 10 August 2010: Nadir Aliyev, Javidan Amirov and Nacaf Suleymanov receive life sentences; Arif Qabulov receives eleven years.
- 2010–2013: memorial gatherings lead to detentions and later human-rights litigation separate from the criminal trial.
- 29 September 2026: the archive records the convictions while leaving the complete appellate history and disputed investigative claims bounded.
Frequently asked questions
How many people were killed?
Twelve victims were killed. The gunman also died, which explains some early totals of thirteen deaths.
Who was identified as the gunman?
Authorities identified Farda Gadirov, a Georgian citizen of Azerbaijani origin. He died at the scene and was not tried.
What happened to the four other defendants?
Three received life sentences and one received eleven years in August 2010.
Did the defendants admit involvement?
No. They denied the charges, retracted earlier confessions and alleged coercion or torture.
Sources and source-quality review
The account relies on contemporaneous Reuters reporting republished by RFE/RL, RFE/RL’s trial coverage, a documented prosecutor security review and the European Court record concerning later commemoration. Official accusations and defense claims are labeled separately.
- Reuters / RFE/RL — Man detained after the shooting1 May 2009 · casualty account, location and initial investigation
- Reuters / RFE/RL — Police allege the gunman did not act alone5 May 2009 · arrests, official allegations and unclear motive
- RFE/RL — Preliminary hearings begin13 April 2010 · charges, pleas and coercion allegations
- RFE/RL — Defendants testify17 July 2010 · trial disputes and court response
- RFE/RL — Four sentenced10 August 2010 · convictions and individualized sentences
- RFE/RL — Prosecutor criticizes academy security6 April 2010 · official security findings
- European Court of Human Rights — Rustamzade v. AzerbaijanLater commemoration and detention context
Status note
Reviewed through 29 September 2026. The trial-court convictions and sentences are documented. The complete appellate history and final disposition of the defendants’ torture allegations were not verified in the sources reviewed.
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