Selective Justice

Baku / 21.08.20 / Turan: In Azerbaijan, they regularly arrest and then convict high-level officials. The last such arrests were on August 19, 2020, when the General Prosecutor's Office arrested four senior officials of the Kurdamir District Executive Power, accused of bribery.

On June 13, two senior officials of the Department of State Social Protection of the Kapaz region of Ganja were arrested.

On May 9, two high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Culture were taken into custody.

The most notorious arrests were against a group of senior officers of the Ministry of National Security, among them the "famous" General Akif Chovdarov, and high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Communications and High Technologies of Azerbaijan who were involved in racketeering with the officers in 2015.

What these events have in common is that the arrested or convicted officials do not serve the term of the measure of restraint or punishment until the end, and are released ahead of time, or the measure of reprimand against these persons is replaced by a milder one.

For example, the former deputy head of the State Border Service (SBS) Afgan Nagiyev, arrested on May 13 and placed in a pre-trial detention center for 4 months, was transferred to house arrest on August 10. On April 6, 2020, the former generals of the Ministry of National Security, Akif Chovdarov and Subahir Gurbanov, were pardoned. Chovdarov was sentenced on October 30, 2017 to 12 years in prison, and S. Gurbanov was arrested in 2015 and by the decision of the Baku military court sentenced to 14 years in prison.

The release of these prisoners was formally attributed to their advanced age and WHO's call to release older prisoners around the world due to the potential for the spread of coronavirus in prisons. However, dozens of other peers of Chovdarov and Gurbanov, well-known Azerbaijani political prisoners, were not released.

Experts recognize selective humanity towards convicts

There is a problem of different attitudes towards convicts, and there is a reason for the problem, says analyst Shahin Jafarli. The main reason is the ideological and political closeness of the former officials to the authorities, and unlike the oppositionists, they are not dangerous for the authorities. It's just that while working, they broke the "rules of the game" or are close to other high-ranking, but dismissed officials. For prevention, they are taken under control for some time, and kept in custody. It is highly likely that there they give the stolen valuables to those who imprisoned them. They are no longer dangerous and are released.

But there are cases of harsh ruthless attitude of the authorities towards other former officials. This is due to the authorities' lack of faith in the loyalty of these people, or they were engaged in political activities against the country's leadership. Shahin Jafarli gave examples: former Minister of Health Ali Insanov, who served a 14-year term, and former Minister of Economic Development Farhad Aliyev (13 years). Probably, the recently arrested former Ambassador and Prosecutor General Eldar Hasanov was caught for political disloyalty to the authorities.

Human rights activist Rasul Jafarov regrets that there is selective justice in Azerbaijan, that is, articles of the law that can be used for the benefit of a citizen are implemented differently, depending on the personality of the convicted person. The other side of the problem is the shortcomings of the early release mechanism. "To address these shortcomings, political will is needed, and the possibilities of legislation should be applied to all citizens equally," Jafarov said.

Lawyer Samir Aliyev, who specializes in criminal cases, ruled out a selective, political attitude towards various prisoners in Azerbaijan.

“Everyone in the country is equal before the law, regardless of religious, racial, official or other characteristics. If someone gets concessions, then this cannot be attributed to the entire law enforcement system. There are officials and judges defending the rule of law. And those who make unfair and illegal decisions will sooner or later be exposed, and justice will prevail," the lawyer Aliyev concluded.

Milli Mejlis deputy Aydin Mirzazadeh does not believe that there is selectivity in applying the principles of humanity to prisoners. «Among those released ahead of schedule, there are convicts in the country who are considered political prisoners by the opposition,” he said, adding that there are no political prisoners in Azerbaijan. There are convicts with their own political views.
The MP recalled about 2,000 prisoners sentenced to home imprisonment wearing special bracelets on their legs as an example of the fact that the practice of imposing humane types of punishment is being applied and expanded in Azerbaijan. The country also releases convicts for a short period in connection with the commemoration or wedding of family members.

He called on the opposition not to politicize this problem and to treat the premature release of former officials with the same joy as they treat the release of their like-minded people. Aydin Mirzazadeh believes that the humanization of punishment in the country should continue.-0-