"The authorities are pursuing the goal of isolating Bakhtiar Hajiyev from society for a long time"

On June 22, based on the request of the investigative body, the Khatai District Court of Baku, the measure of restraint for human rights defender Bakhtiar Hajiyev for another month, until July 28. The investigative body explained its petition by bringing new charges against Hajiyev. Rovshan Rahimli's lawyer told Turan that Hajiyev called the charges against him far-fetched and ordered.

Bakhtiar Hajiyev was arrested on December 9 last year on charges of hooliganism and contempt of court. On December 15, Hajiyev began a hunger strike demanding his release. After persistent appeals from members of the public and family members, he stopped his hunger strike on December 28. However, on January 9, after the Court of Appeal rejected his release from custody, he resumed his hunger strike. Hajiyev stopped the hunger strike on the 51st day.

On June 16 of this year, the investigative body filed a lawsuit against Bakhtiyar Hajiyev under Articles 192 (Illegal entrepreneurship), 193 (false entrepreneurship), 320.1 (forgery or illegal production of a certificate or other official document granting rights or releasing from duties for the purpose of its use), 320.2 (use of knowingly forged documents), 206.1 (smuggling) of the Criminal Code. For what purpose have new charges been brought against Bakhtiyar Hajiyev?

Rufat Safarov, the co-chairman of the human rights organization "Line of Defense" answers the questions of ASTNA.

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Question: On June 16, new charges were brought against Bakhtiyar Hajiyev under four more Articles of the Criminal Code. Where did these new accusations come from?

Answer: I do not believe that Bakhtiar Hajiyev committed a crime, illegal action or inaction. On the contrary, I am sure that the investigator who petitioned for the election of an extreme measure of restraint against Bakhtiar, the prosecutor who prepared the submission, and finally, the judge who ensured all this, took an illegal position, openly following the instructions of the political authorities, specifically, the Minister of Internal Affairs Vilayat Eyvazov. Of course, all this is evidence that the investigative corps, the courts in the country are not independent, are an instrument of repression of the political authorities. Of course, since the moment of Bakhtiar's detention, we have stated that he meets the criteria of a prisoner of conscience, we have brought to the fore the fact that he was isolated from society because of critical comments, assessments and speeches. In fact, today Bakhtiar turned out to be a hostage of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and Minister Vilayat Eyvazov is cruelly taking revenge on him. Imagine, political and legal entities of the state illegally arrest a critical civil activist, accuse him of contempt of court, hooliganism, seize accounts in social networks, grossly violate privacy, subject to moral terror, deprive public and international protection, moreover, expand the scope of the prosecution, accusing of economic crimes (illegal entrepreneurship, smuggling, legalization of funds or other property obtained by criminal means). It is clear that Bakhtiar and his defenders rejected the content and totality of the charges. We understand that this is due to Hajiyev's socio-political position before his arrest. And therefore, despite certain difficulties, we continue to protect the prisoner of conscience Bakhtiyar Hajiyev.

Question: For what purpose are these charges being brought?

Answer: If Bakhtiyar was threatened with up to 3 years in prison on previous charges, now he faces up to 12 years in prison. In my opinion, having falsely accused Hajiyev of committing a serious crime, the authorities seek to isolate Hajiyev from society for a long time.

Question: Representatives of the US State Department, the US Helsinki Commission, the European Union, the Council of Europe and a number of international NGOs have repeatedly demanded the release of Bakhtiar Hajiyev. Despite this, new charges are being brought against him. It turns out that the authorities are determined to keep Bakhtiar Hajiyev under arrest?

Answer: Sure. This is also facilitated by the inability of international organizations specializing in the field of human rights, political power centers, public and state institutions in Europe and the West to conduct a serious dialogue with Baku with a view to ending the policy of repression. Appeals to the government are not enough to achieve real results, they are perceived as statements of a duty nature. PACE, which has defined common standards in the field of human rights in the European space and exported them to the member countries of this organization, the United States, which presents itself as guardians of democracy in the world, and the European Union, which is a supranational organization of Europe, do not pursue an adequate policy regarding the human rights situation in Azerbaijan. Unfortunately, economic and energy interests are a priority, and the problem of the democratic system and human rights is in the background. There is no need to go far for an example, they can be served by the attitude shown to women's rights defenders and journalists at a reception organized the day before at the US Embassy in Azerbaijan, and this was regretted. By the way, I welcome the action of the ladies at this event.

Why did Bakhtiar Hajiyev become a target? What is he being avenged for?

Answer: Bakhtiar Hajiyev was one of the brightest representatives of civil society. I admit that cybercrime, gross violation of the principle of privacy, moral terror have done their job, Bakhtiar's public defense has begun to limp, his reputation has suffered. The Government has not accepted the existence of a public activist, a human rights defender, recognized and accepted in international circles at a high level. It is known that prior to his arrest, Bakhtiar purposefully and consistently worked against the repressive policy of the authorities. Bakhtiar Hajiyev, as a human rights activist, contributed to the fact that police officer Kerim Alimardanov, who participated in the torture, was included in the sanctions list under the Magnitsky Act. This was the first experience in the history of Azerbaijan. It is no coincidence that Bakhtiar was detained even before this information was distributed. It was after this that the head of state, Ilham Aliyev, authorized the arrest of Bakhtiar. At the same time, did Bakhtiar have any mistakes and miscalculations of a non-criminal nature, is he responsible for the current situation? There were plenty. But now I don't think it's right to go into the details of this. Because he is a hostage of the repressive machine of the government, with the legal policy of which it is impossible for me to reconcile. He is a clear prisoner of conscience. When he gets the freedom he deserves, I will have the opportunity to express my criticisms and thoughts to him directly and the public will know about it.