Arif Fakhraddin oglu Pashayev was born on 15 May 1959, in Lachin, Azerbaijani SSR, then part of the Soviet Union.

Until 1991, Pashayev worked as the head of various economic enterprises, and was the deputy chairman of the Lachin District State Property Committee.

[2] In April 1988, Pashayev established and headed the Lachin District Defense Committee, which consisted of several thousand people.

Pashayev was appointed commander of the Lachin District Territorial Defense Battalion in October 1991 by the order No.

Pashayev was arrested in August 1993 on 13 charges under Article 4 of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan, and sentenced to death.