ARTICLE 19 believes that Milli and Hajizade, who are imprisoned on charges of hooliganism, were targeted for expressing opinions critical of the Azerbaijani authorities. ARTICLE 19 calls on the Azerbaijani government to release Milli and Hajizade from prison and to cease the imprisonment of persons for expressing critical opinions.
On 19 August, the Azerbaijani Supreme Court considered the case of imprisoned bloggers and youth activists Emin Milli and Adnan Hajizade. In its decision, the Court upheld the lower courts" rulings, which convicted Milli and Hajizade of hooliganism and sentenced them to two and a half years and two years of imprisonment respectively.
The two were arrested on 8 July 2009 after appealing to police as victims of an assault following an incident in which they were attacked in a restaurant.
`Milli and Hajizade are clearly in prison for exercising their right to freedom of expression`, comments ARTICLE 19 Executive Director Agn?s Callamard. `Yesterday"s ruling demonstrates the lack of independence of the Azerbaijani judiciary.`
Milli and Hajizade"s lawyers plan to apply to the European Court of Human Rights now that the domestic appeals process has been exhausted. The OSCE Representative for Freedom of the Media and the Council of Europe High Commissioner for Human Rights have both expressed concern regarding Milli and Hajizade"s imprisonment, noting that the move seemed to be an attempt by the Azerbaijani authorities to silence critical voices.
ARTICLE 19 calls on the Azerbaijani government to release Milli and Hajizade and others currently imprisoned for expressing critical opinions, including Realniy Azerbaijan and Gundelik Azerbaijan newspaper editor-in-chief Eynulla Fatullayev and Yeni Fikir youth movement leader Ruslan Bashirli. ARTICLE 19 further calls on the Azerbaijani government to cease its imprisonment of persons for political reasons, and to fully comply with its international commitments to freedom of expression. -0-
Politics
-
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian will hold talks in Moscow on January 17 and make statements for the press, according to the Kremlin's press service.
-
On January 13, the trial in the case of public activist Nijat Ibrahim continued in the Baku Serious Crimes Court under the chairmanship of Judge Aygun Gurbanova. The trial was suspended after Ibrahim, in protest against the illegal arrest, began banging his head against the "aquarium cage", trying to commit suicide. At the beginning of the trial, he stated that he had been illegally detained for 4 months, and because of this, his family in Moldova was in a difficult situation, Turan announced this on its Twitter.
-
The International Committee of Concerned Scholars (ICS) has appealed to the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, requesting his assistance in securing the release of the arrested researcher, Igbal Abilov. The ICS expressed concern that Abilov's arrest "may be related to his research on ethnic minorities in Azerbaijan, conducted in collaboration with scholars from Armenia."
-
Georgia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Maka Botchorishvili, met with the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Azerbaijan to Georgia, Faig Guliyev.
Rəy yaz