Front line about judicial harassment of human rights defender Bahtyar Mamedov

A new hearing on the case of human rights defender Mr Bahtyar Mamedov is scheduled to start on 14 February 2013 at the Court of Grave Crimes in Baku. The human rights defender has been detained since 30 December 2011 on charges of “swindle” under Article 178.1 and “extortion accompanied by violence” under Article 182.3 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The trial under the charges of swindle has been ongoing since April 2012, despite a reported lack of evidence to support the case. 

Bahtyar Mamedov is a defender of property rights and the legal representative of Baku inhabitants whose houses have been demolished. From June 2011 onwards, evictions of the local population took place in Baku near Flag Square. Their properties were destroyed to make way for the construction of a new highway built for the Eurovision Song Contest of May 2012. The inhabitants were offered an unfair rate of financial compensation although the amount of such compensation had been defined by a governmental decision. In August 2011, the inhabitants of the area signed a contract with Bahtyar Mamedov allowing him to defend their interests and to represent them in court. Bahtyar Mamedov subsequently discovered fraud with money due to be paid as compensation, allegedly involving a military unit commander, Shahin Sultanov.

Bahtyar Mamedov was accused himself of an alleged attempt on his part to extort money from Shahin Sultanov, which he strongly denies. During the initial three-month period ordered by the Court of Grave Crimes to investigate the charges of “extortion accompanied by violence”, no evidence was found to support the charges, yet the case was not closed. 

The prosecution subsequently opened a second case against Bahtyar Mamedov on charges of fraud. Until 5 November 2012, Shahin Sultanov, the alleged victim of the fraud, had not been questioned by the investigative team and did not respond to the summons to appear before the court. On 15 October 2012, he sent a declaration stating that he did not know Bahtyar Mamedov and that he had lodged a complaint against him according to information received from third persons, and that he has nothing against Bahtyar Mamedov. 

On 5 November 2012, Shahin Sultanov finally came in a courtroom accompanied by police officers, which could be considered as an attempt to intimidate the jury. Despite the lack of evidence against Bahtyar Mamedov, on 29 November 2012, the case was not closed but postponed. The new hearing took place on 25 January 2013, where the only new element was a document stating that Bahtyar Mamedov has no previous criminal conviction, information that should have been presented at the first stage of preliminary investigation. The hearing was then postponed to 1 February 2013. Finally, at the hearing of 7 February 2013, the accusation asked for 12 years of imprisonment for Bahtyar Mamedov. Front Line Defenders issued an urgent appeal and an update on the continued judicial harassment faced by Bahtyar Mamedov on 26 October 2012 and 12 November 2012 respectively.

Front Line Defenders believes that the criminal case against Bahtyar Mamedov is directly linked to his peaceful and legitimate human rights work in the defence of housing rights, in particular the right of inhabitants of demolished houses to adequate compensation. Front Line Defenders is further concerned that the investigation of this case has shown serious dysfunctions and that fair trial and due process standards have not been met. 

Front Line Defenders urges the authorities in Azerbaijan to: 

1. Drop all charges against human rights defender Bahtyar Mamedov, and consequently release him without delay, as it is believed the charges are solely motivated by his legitimate and peaceful work in the defence of human rights;

2.Guarantee in all circumstances that all human rights defenders in Azerbaijan are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions including judicial harassment. -0-