HRANA – Ali Babaei, an Azerbaijani-Turk activist currently held in Tabriz Prison, has been sentenced by Branch 1 of the Tabriz Revolutionary Court to nine months in prison. This sentence comes in addition to a six-year-and-four-month prison term previously imposed on him in a separate case.

According to HRANA, Ali Babaei, an Azerbaijani-Turk activist currently held in Tabriz Prison, has been sentenced to prison.

Mr. Babaei was sentenced by Branch 1 of the Tabriz Revolutionary Court to nine months in prison on the charge of “propaganda against the regime.” According to information received by HRANA, this sentence relates to a case opened against him following his arrest in January 2026.

An informed source familiar with the case confirmed the news to HRANA, stating that Mr. Babaei’s arrest in January was intended to prevent him from engaging in activities related to the protests taking place at the time.

The hearing on the charges against this Azerbaijani-Turk activist was held yesterday before the aforementioned branch.

In June 2025, in a separate case, Mr. Babaei was tried alongside 12 other citizens by Branch 2 of the Tabriz Revolutionary Court. In late December 2025, he was subsequently sentenced to two years and nine months in prison on the charge of “membership in an illegal group” and three years and seven months on the charge of “assembly and collusion against national security.”

In May 2026, the East Azerbaijan Province Court of Appeals upheld the ruling in full.

Ali Babaei was arrested in Tabriz in September 2023 and was released from Tabriz Prison on bail in January 2024.

According to HRA’s annual statistics, 304 people were arrested in 2025 on the basis of their ethnicity or national-minority status. At least 188 of these arrests were carried out without the presentation of a judicial warrant. Although in many cases the specific allegations and reasons for arrest were not disclosed, given the previous practices of security agencies, it is believed that these individuals may have been arrested for activities related to ethnic rights.