A journalist under pressure
Rasim Aliyev was a 30-year-old freelance journalist and the acting chairman of the Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety, a press-freedom organization then based in Baku. He had previously reported threats connected to his journalism and critical social-media posts. Those earlier threats form part of the context, but the criminal case that followed his death focused on the group assault of 8 August 2015.
The post and the arranged meeting
Two days before the assault, Aliyev criticized Azerbaijan national-team footballer Javid Huseynov on Facebook after an incident following a European match. From hospital, Aliyev told Meydan TV that a caller claiming to be Huseynov’s cousin first confronted him by telephone, then apologized and proposed meeting for tea.
Aliyev said that when he arrived near Bayil market in Baku’s Sabail district, he was struck from behind and attacked by several men. Reporting based on surveillance footage described a group knocking him down and kicking him. His wallet and telephone were also taken.
Death in hospital
The Ministry of Internal Affairs and General Prosecutor’s Office said the assault occurred at about 6 p.m. on 8 August and that Aliyev died at the Clinical Medical Center at about 5 a.m. on 9 August. Authorities opened a case under the provision covering intentional serious bodily harm that causes death through negligence.
Friends and relatives said some internal injuries were not identified for hours, and the family later sought scrutiny of the medical response. A Health Ministry review concluded that the treatment was appropriate. Aliyev’s family rejected that conclusion and argued that the review was not independent. No medical-negligence conviction was identified in the sources reviewed for this file.
The five convictions
On 1 April 2016, the Baku Grave Crimes Court convicted five men of intentional grievous bodily harm causing death. Elshan Ismayilov received 13 years, Arif Aliyev 12 years and six months, Jamal Mammadov 11 years, and Samir Mustafayev and Kanan Madatov nine years each.
The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media welcomed the convictions while noting that the separate proceeding against Javid Huseynov was still underway. The five defendants and Aliyev’s family pursued appeals from different positions. The family sought broader accountability; defendants challenged the convictions and sentences.
The separate case against Javid Huseynov
Prosecutors did not accuse Javid Huseynov of ordering the attack. In a separate trial, he was convicted in May 2016 of concealing and failing to report a serious crime and sentenced to four years. He denied prior knowledge of the assault. In October 2016, the Baku Appeals Court reduced his sentence to one year and two months—the time he had already served—and released him.
That conviction must not be conflated with the fatal-assault convictions. The public record reviewed here does not establish that Huseynov was convicted of organizing or participating in the beating.
Appeals and final status
In April 2017, the Baku Appeals Court upheld the sentences imposed on the five attackers. Azerbaijan’s Supreme Court confirmed that outcome in April 2019. On that basis, this archive classifies the fatal assault as solved and adjudicated with five final convictions.
The finality of those convictions does not erase the family’s unresolved concerns about medical treatment or the narrower charge against Huseynov. Those issues are reported as disputed claims and procedural history, not as additional findings of criminal guilt.
Why this case matters
Aliyev’s death became a major press-freedom case because he was a journalist who had reported threats and because the attack followed criticism published online. The documented court result established responsibility for the assault by five men. It did not resolve every question raised by his relatives and colleagues about the environment in which the attack occurred.