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Trial begins for Azerbaijani citizens accused of ties to international terrorist groups

26 February 2026 09:56 (UTC +04:00)

A preparatory court hearing has been held in the criminal case initiated by the State Security Service (SSS) against Vugar Najafli, Jamal Gozalov, Tofiq Yusifli, Dadash Hashimov, Mahammad Huseynli, Mushfig Hashimov, Mir Javad Huseynli and Tural Agayev, who are accused of participating in the activities of a terrorist group, APA reports.

During the hearing, chaired by Judge Namig Karimov at the Baku Court for Grave Crimes, the personal details of the accused were clarified.

Subsequently, the defense lawyers filed motions requesting that the pre-trial detention measure imposed on their clients be replaced with house arrest. After deliberation, the panel of judges rejected the defense’s motion and upheld the previously selected pre-trial detention measure without changes.

Then it was decided to refer the criminal case for trial, and the hearing was scheduled for March 11.

Note that Complex operational-investigative measures were held on criminal cases initiated by the State Security Service (SSS) regarding the formation of criminal gangs consisting of citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan with ties to international terrorist organizations, preparation of terrorist acts accompanied by the creation of underground shelters in the forest massive in the northern region of the country and provision of weapons, ammunition, explosives, technical devices and other necessary equipment for this purpose.

The conducted investigations established that citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan - Vugar Najafli, Jamal Gozalov, Tofig Yusifli and Dadash Hashimov, who were members of the gang created for the purpose of committing terrorist crimes, left the Republic of Azerbaijan in 2024 and hid in the mountainous areas located on the border of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan with Afghanistan. It was determined that they participated in combat exercises and armed conflicts and underwent armed training for criminal purposes outside the borders of Azerbaijan as part of an international terrorist organization.

As a result of operational-search measures carried out by SSS in cooperation with partner foreign special service and law enforcement agencies, the persons under investigation were captured in foreign countries and brought to Azerbaijan.

The measures taken also revealed that the terrorist activities of Tofig Yusifli and Dadash Hashimov were financed by citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan - Mir Javad Huseynli and Tural Agayev and also established other criminal acts of the latters.

Members of the criminal group - Vugar Najafli, Jamal Gozalov, Tofig Yusifli, Dadash Hashimov, Mir Javad Huseynli and Tural Aghayev were brought to justice as defendants under Articles 214-1 (financing terrorism), 283-1.3 (propagating religious sects, participating in trainings and armed conflicts established outside the borders of the Republic of Azerbaijan under the guise of performing religious rites, on the basis of religious hostility) and other articles of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and a preventive measure of arrest was chosen for them by the court's decision.