It turns out that Anar Mamedli rigged elections

The arrest of Anar Mamedli, the head of the Election Monitoring and Democratic Studies Center (EMDS), is of political character. The authorities punish all those who monitored  the elections, and stated about numerous violations at the presidential elections on October 9,; the report of the EMDS was used by influential international organizations.

It is also an act of intimidation of civil society, so  that no one dare to criticize the government. This is how the  civil society activists and politicians assess the arrest of the Anar Mamedli,  the headof the EMDS on December 17.

Allegations of tax evasion, illegal entrepreneurship and abuse of power  are far-fetched , said the head of the NGO "Law and Development", Hafiz Hasanov .

Mammadov  is charged with use of grant funds through the personal identification number of the taxpayer. "However, the EMDS did not have a state registration, and Mamedli  was forced to act as an individual taxpayer.

It is stupid  to qualify it as illegal entrepreneurship, said Hasanov. The accusation of tax evasion is also unfounded. In March-April Mammedli tax authorities  conducted an audit, and no violations were found. "Mamedli is persecuted for election monitoring . The authorities did not want  any independent engagement  in the elections," said Hasanov.

Investigative journalist, Khadija Ismail, believed that the catalyst  for the arrest of  Mammedli  became the fact of the electing  the EMDS by the ODIHR as a  member of the Coordinating Council of Europe monitoring organizations last week at an event in Warsaw.

The PFPA leader, Ali Kerimli, noted that no matter under what pretext Anar Mamedli has been arrested; it is clear that the authorities pursue him for an honest civil position.

"Anar Mamedli is an educated intelligent person, a recognized expert in the field of elections . However, the Azerbaijani authorities are ready to throw in imprison  anyone who dares to wish for changes,  even peacefully.

It is also a message to the world community that the authoritarian regime intends to go to Europe with its own rules," said Kerimli. The West's position on the pacification of the Azerbaijani regime has caused  such a situation.

"There is a misconception that  it is possible gradually reform the regime. This policy  has  led to the fact that Azerbaijan today has  143 political prisoners, and repression has been  raised to the rank of state policy," said Kerimli. Kerimli proposed to establish a permanent coordination group, and its functioning by voluntary donations of citizens.

The lawyer, Aslan Ismailov, proposed to start a protest demanding the release of Mamedli. He expressed the opinion that you should not rely on the support of the West. "They need our oil, our caviar, and our wealth," said Ismailov.

The Head of the  Economic Research  center, Gubad Ibadoglu, said about the absurdity of the charges Mamedli   with economic crimes at the time, when  no one has been held accountable for the fact that natural monopolies  owed to the state budget $ 2.4 billion. the Head of the National Council, Jamil Hasanli, said that on 9 October in Azerbaijan once again  was  usurped power and the government now seeks to force society to accept the outcome of these falsifications, punishing unwanted people. 

Director of the Institute of Media, Rashid Hajili,  said that he  had met with Mamedli, who is in prison  in Narimanov district police. He said that all charges against  Mamedli are unfounded, but the most absurd is  the charge under the  Article 308.2 on which Mamedli is  charged with electoral fraud by abuse of authority . This message caused laughter in the hall.

The IRFS Director, Emin Huseynov,  regarded the arrest of  Mamedli as a negative reaction to the government 's call for dialogue sounded during a human rights forum on December 11.

He proposed the creation of a group of 30 activists, and send it to the PACE winter session in Strasbourg. It is necessary to raise the question of suspension of voting right of Azerbaijan in PACE, and its acceptance for the chairmanship of the CoE Committee of Ministers in May 2014 until all political prisoners are released.

Following the meeting, it was decided to establish the Public Committee to Protect Mamedli.

The event was also attended by representatives of the OSCE , the EU, the embassies of the USA, France , Germany, the Netherlands, and other countries. –06D-