"The problem in Azerbaijan is not the laws, but their implementation."

On Thursday, October 17, 2024, human rights consultant Marc Comina was in Baku to attend the next hearing in the trial of his client, Huseyn Abdullayev. For technical reasons, the hearing was postponed to the 31st of October, but Turan News Agency still took the opportunity to ask him a few questions.

What is your reaction to the fact that the Azerbaijani prosecution is accusing your client of crimes punishable from 7 to 12 years in prison?

In this trial, as in the previous one, which resulted in a six-year prison sentence in 2019, the accusations were not proved. My client has always paid all his taxes and respected the law in all his activities. To understand my client's situation, the legal angle is not the right one.

In your opinion, what is the right angle?

This is a purely political case.

Why do you think that is?

The first criminal case against my client dates back to 2013. It was opened the day after he publicly criticized the Azerbaijani government from his exile in Germany. This is no coincidence. Criminal prosecution is an instrument of political punishment. I would also point out that the criminal proceedings currently underway were initiated just 45 days before the date on which, after six years in prison, my client should finally have been released. In a state fully governed by the rule of law, such cruelty would be unthinkable. You don't wait until the last minute to initiate a second set of proceedings for the same facts as the first, even though there is a universal rule of law - ne bis in idem - which forbids convicting the same person twice for the same facts. All these elements clearly indicate that there is a political will behind the law and that, for the time being, the authorities simply do not want Huseyn Abdullayev to leave prison and return to Germany, the country that granted him political asylum.

But are you still hopeful of getting him released soon?

I'm very hopeful that one day we will be able to resolve this issue in the interest of both parties. Because, in fact, this case is embarrassing for Azerbaijan.

Embarrassing is a strong word, could you elaborate?

Azerbaijan's legal framework may not be perfect, but it is already firmly rooted in the Western democratic tradition. And Azerbaijan has signed the most important international human rights conventions. So we have a satisfactory legal framework. And that's positive. But Azerbaijan doesn't apply it rigorously enough, which has earned it international criticism, including in the case of my client.

Can you be more specific?

In April 2018, my client was in Istanbul legally. According to international conventions signed by Turkey and Azerbaijan, he was protected by his German passport as a political refugee. Nevertheless, he was abducted and forcibly deported to Baku. In 2020, the UN noted the profound illegality of this extradition, condemned Turkey and Azerbaijan, and demanded my client's immediate release. In December 2022, in its 15th Human Rights Report, the German government reminded Azerbaijan of its obligation to release my client. By refusing to do so, Azerbaijan is missing an opportunity to demonstrate that it is sincere in its efforts to comply with its international obligations.

Your client's health has been a recurring theme throughout the hearings.

We're very concerned. His health has deteriorated sharply in recent months. Out of respect for his privacy, I don't want to go into details, but the latest information we have received from the private doctor who has seen him with the permission of the authorities is alarming. In any Western country, he would have been released long ago for surgery and treatment.

When was the last time you saw your client?

Azerbaijani law allows a prisoner to receive relatives, even from abroad. But I was never allowed to meet him. Even his international lawyer, Jared Genser, was denied the right to meet him. Yet another example of the issue I've just mentioned: it's not the laws that are the problem, but their implementation. Nevertheless, I am regularly updated on my client's situation by his lawyers and by his mother, Zeynab Abdullayeva, an extremely courageous and dignified woman who has worked tirelessly for over six years to secure her son's release. Out of respect for her and her exemplary character alone, Huseyn Abdullayev should be released immediately.