The future Dresden Fellow and Philipp Schwartz-Scholar Dr. Gubad Ibadoghlu has been imprisoned in Azerbaijan since July 24, 2023 for alleged possession of counterfeit money. Gubad Ibadoghlu is a world-renowned economist who has worked extensively on corruption, the diversion of natural resource profits and the detrimental economic consequences of autocratic rulership.  TU Dresden has been supporting his family, colleagues and representatives of international human rights organizations in a concerted effort to get him released.

In this panel, we want to discuss the lessons from this and related cases. Do autocrats feel threatened by sound academic research? What makes resource-abundant states particularly prone to the suppression of policy-relevant research? How can academics and politicians in democratic societies protect and support fellow researchers in autocracies? Do we need more public pressure or silent diplomacy?

Language: Panel discussion in English