Policy relevant research – a threat to autocrats? Panel discussion on Scientific Freedom, Human Rights and political realities

The world-renowned scientist Dr. Gubad Ibadoghlu has been a Dresden Fellow and Philipp Schwartz Scholar at the Faculty of Business and Economics at TU Dresden for several months now. He has not yet been able to start his research stays and has been imprisoned in Azerbaijan since July 24, 2023 for alleged possession of counterfeit money. TU Dresden, together with his family, colleagues and representatives of human rights organizations, is working to secure his release through various campaigns.

On April 15, 2024, Zhala Bayramova, human rights lawyer and daughter of Gubad Ibadoghlu, was a guest at TU Dresden. Together with Kassem Taher Saleh (Member of the Bundestag, Bündnis 90/Die Grünen) and Prof. Dr. Marcel Thum (Faculty of Business and Economics, Chair of Economics, in particular Finance), she spoke about the fate of her father. The panel, moderated by Katharina Schmitt, also explored questions such as why autocrats feel threatened by solid scientific research and why academics and politicians in democratic societies can protect their research colleagues in autocracies.