Alliance - "Azerbaijan Without Political Prisoners": Gurban Mammadov "Prisoner of Conscience"

On the cusp of the presidential election, a wave of repression in Azerbaijan takes a broad scope. In today's roundtable, “Azerbaijan has no political prisoners” was the opinion of Elsham Hasanov a member of the Public Alliance and former "prisoner of conscience".

Repression is carried out not only against political activists but also against ordinary citizens, Hasanov said, pointing to the use of torture on detainees.

He cited the criminal case against the lawyer Gurban Mammadov as one of the latest examples of repression for political reasons. Civil society activist and lawyer Namizad Safarov said that the government had declared war against the champions of democracy. "Gurban Mammadov was arrested for political reasons, for openly criticizing the authorities," said Safarov, noting the unjustified accusation relating to a traffic accident.

Human rights activist Vidadi Iskenderli reported discrimination on political grounds. He recalled that the driver of the deputy from the ruling party New Azerbaijan Aydin Mirzazada was not arrested following a fatal crash, but Mamedov was arrested.

Former Defense Minister Rahim Ghaziyev called for the consolidation of civil society. In his view, only joint efforts can counteract the repression and lawlessness.

Following the meeting, a statement was adopted, which requires an end to repression, torture, and pressure on activists. In addition, the statement called on Amnesty International to recognize Gurban Mammadov as a "prisoner of conscience."-16C-