EMDSC and PAICV condemn the statement of the prosecutor in the case of Anar Mammadov and his colleagues

The proposal  of the prosecutor to  sentence the head of the EMDSC (Election Monitoring and Democracy Studies Center) Anar Mammadov, the  executive director  of this organization  Bashir Suleymanli, and the head of the  PAICV (Public Association for International Cooperation Volunteers) , Elnur Mammadov, to long terms of imprisonment is part of the policy  of suppressing  critical voices in Azerbaijan, reads the statement of the SNDSC and PAICV.

On  May 21 the prosecutor suggested to  sentence Mammedli to nine  years in prison , and Suleymanli and  Mammadov to 8.5 years in prison.

The statement of the ENDSC and PAICV noted that  the charges are baseless and have not been proven during the trial. Therefore organizations believe that the sentence  is illegal and unjust.

The 19 “victims” questioned in court 19  said they did not consider themselves  victims, and asked the court to exclude  their names form the list  of victims; 21  witnesses also denied  the  guilt of activists. The court did not confirm  the conclusions  of the handwriting and accounting expertise. The statement also indicated that the EMDSC monitored the presidential elections  on October  9, 2013, and is consistent with the Constitution and the Electoral Code of Azerbaijan.

 The EMDSC  for 10 years  was conducted  monitoring , which corresponded to the Copenhagen and Moscow Documents of the  OSCE.  The members  of the EMDSC and PAICV collected, evaluated and disseminated information during election monitoring ,  and did not commit a criminal offense. The statement indicated that the precursor of the EMDSC of the Election Monitoring Center has been unreasonably deprived of registration in 2008.

Authors of the statement call the authorities to stop the policy of pressure on organizations and activists engaged in activities aimed at ensuring the transparency of the elections.

However,  the EMDSC declares his intention to continue the systematic work towards a system  of free and fair elections in cooperation with all relevant state and non-state institutions , international organizations , based on the principles of the Council of Europe and the OSCE.

The statement  reads that  Mammadov and Suleymanli charged under the Aarticles 179.3.2 (embezzlement on a large scale,) 192.2.2 (illegal entrepreneurship by an organized group,), 213.1 ( tax evasion,) 308.2 (abuse of power that led to grave consequences), and 313 ( forgery.)

Mamedov  is accused on the same charges , as well as three paragraphs of the  Article 179

- Assignment of the official position , causing significant damage.

Defendants regard the  charges false and  related to their professional activities , in particular, prepared a report on the results of monitoring the presidential elections of 2013.

 The EMDSC  and PAICV  conducted monitoring in cooperation with local short-term and long-term observers accredited by the CEC. During the election campaign were released two interim reports , and after elections Primary conclusion.

 The EMDSC is a member of the European network monitoring organizations (ENEMO), European Platform for Democratic Elections (EPDE), Network parliamentary monitoring organizations Civic Forum of the EU program “Eastern Partnership.” —06D--