Jail N 14 - "a prison for political prisoners," says opposition activists

The arrest of  Ilgar Rzayev is  of political  nature, and  sending him to jail N 14  in the village of Gizildash pursue goals of revenge for active civil position,  noted the participants of the press-conference of the Committee for the Rights  of Rzayev. He was arrested on May 11 this year on suspicion of drug possession. On the same day, police found drugs in a rented apartment where Rzayev  lived. 

In August, the Narimanov District Court of Baku sentenced Rzayev to  two years of  imprisonment.

However Rzayev and his family deny the allegations and claimed that the police themselves had planted drugs. Rzayev’s family believe that they are being pressured by the fact that they resisted relocating from an apartment  in  the Mirzaga Aliyev  street, 211 and defended other residents of the district, and "winter boulevard" is being built on the area now. 

On April 22, 2012  I.Rzayev’s mother Shirinbadzhi Rzayeva at an opposition rally sharply criticized  the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev for the seizure of property of citizens.

A few days later Rzayev’s house was demolished, despite the court decision to suspend the destruction of the building. On May 11,  Rzayev was arrested, he is a volunteer  of the human rights organization,  the Institute for Peace and Democracy. According to Rzayeva, the family has not received compensation for demolished home. The Committee to Protect Rzayev’s rights called the Article 234 (illegal possession of drugs) of the Criminal Code, a political article.

"Political and social activists  are imprisoned for this article,"  said the member of "Open Society", Vugar Mahmudov.

In jail  N14  the conditions are harsh, and  this is a "prison  for political prisoners," he added.

The Committee called on all political parties and intellectuals to create a unified coalition to protect the rights of political prisoners and "prisoners of conscience." The Committee stated that the verdict against  Rzayev  will be appealed  in the European Court of Human Rights. However, an activist of the party "Open Society" Ramiz Mirzaoglu expressed the opinion that they should not  hope for the Strasbourg Court.

"My complaint against the illegal arrest was in production in 2005. However, the decision on it is still there. Whom we should complain against the European Court? " said the human rights activist.--03C06--