Trial in Rennes: attempted murder of an Azerbaijani blogger in Nantes
Mahammad Mirzali testified before the special assizes court in Rennes about the knife attack he suffered in Nantes in 2021. Nine accused of Azerbaijani origin face up to life imprisonment.
Rennes trial: Azerbaijani dissident recounts knife attack that nearly killed him
Azerbaijani exile blogger Mahammad Mirzali testified on Tuesday before the special assizes court in Rennes about the assault he suffered in Nantes in March 2021, according to boursorama.com. "I thought I was dead," he said in French, wearing a light-coloured suit, facing seven defendants present in the courtroom.
Mirzali, 32, described in detail the minute during which three assailants struck him repeatedly with a knife. "I thought it was the last time I would breathe. I was dying," he stated before the court, under the gaze of the accused — six in the dock, one under judicial supervision, two absent. He even lay down on the floor to show the position he had adopted to try to ward off the blows.
A "political crime" from Azerbaijan
The blogger described the attack as a "political crime" emanating "from the government of Azerbaijan". A political refugee in France since 2016, he runs a YouTube channel and blog with hundreds of thousands of subscribers, regularly denouncing the Baku regime.
Jeanne Cavelier, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) representative for Central Asia and Eastern Europe, testified next. "This assault does not come out of nowhere, it is something that RSF has observed for years in several countries," she said. She described "transnational repression" aimed at "intimidating, threatening and attacking" journalists and opponents abroad, a practice attributed in particular to China, Iran, Egypt, Turkey, Russia and Belarus.
Nine accused, all of Azerbaijani origin
The three presumed commando members and six men accused of assisting them across Europe are all of Azerbaijani nationality or origin. The main defendant, Emin Gasimov, is detained at the high-security prison in Condé-sur-Sarthe. Investigators present him as a member of the Russian-speaking mafia known as "thieves in law". During Mirzali's testimony, Gasimov raised his voice several times, to the point that the court president threatened to cut off his microphone.
A life under constant protection
Mirzali described an almost monastic existence: an apartment "plunged in darkness, shutters closed", parents who do not know his address. "Even at home I do not feel secure," he said, recalling the murder of another Azerbaijani opponent stabbed in October 2024 in Mulhouse. In 2025, he was sentenced in absentia in his country of origin to six and a half years in prison and is subject to recurring death threats.
The defence questions the intent to kill
The defence lawyers attempted to cast doubt on premeditation, suggesting that the commando would have stopped the assault if they had really wanted to kill. Mirzali rejected this interpretation: "When they came towards me, I was zigzagging, they wasted time and everyone was honking" — the assailants had immobilised their vehicle on the traffic lanes. "I think they wasted time and got stressed. They really tried to murder me," he replied.
Asked about his willingness to continue his criticism of the Azerbaijani regime, the blogger answered without hesitation: "Why stop? The government will not let me go."
The nine accused are being prosecuted, depending on the case, for attempted murder in an organised group, complicity or association of wrongdoers. The sentences they face range from ten years imprisonment to life imprisonment. The verdict is expected late next week.
Source: Google News MA — Crime (fr)