Updated list of political prisoners

Baku/06.12.18/Turan: On Thursday, on the eve of the International Day of Human Rights on December 10, the Union for the Freedom of Political Prisoners of Azerbaijan (UFPPA) released an updated list of political prisoners.

As one of the co-founders of the structure, the head of the Union of Intellectuals of Azerbaijan (SIA), Eldaniz Guliyev, said there are 150 people in the updated list. He stressed that 70% of them are believers and the majority condemned by the Nardaran events of 2015. In total, those arrested on these events received 500 years of imprisonment.

UFPPA Coordinator, head of the Center for Monitoring Political Prisoners Elshan Hasanov noted that during the period after the announcement of the previous list in early August, a number of political prisoners released conditionally were released.

At the same time, new faces joined the ranks of political prisoners. Thus, Azad Hasanov, an activist of the Musavat party, who has political asylum in Lithuania, was arrested. He returned to visit his father, but was arrested on a false accusation of drug trafficking.

The head of the youth organization of the Musavat Party, Abulfaz Sadigbeyli, accused of falsifying documents, was also recognized as political prisoner, Hasanov said.

"In such cases, the investigation is usually conducted without pre-trial arrest. Therefore, the hasty arrest of an activist without reliable evidence confirms political motives," Hasanov said.

Hilal Mammadov, one of the co-founders of the AUFA, the editor of the Tolyshi Sado newspaper (The Voice of Talysh), noted that human rights in Azerbaijan are violated not only in the political sphere. One example of this, he called the egregious case of the beating of the director of Baku school number 175 by a relative of a high-ranking police officer.

Mammadov noted with regret that the 10th of December, International Human Rights Day is celebrated as a "black holiday." He also focused on those convicted of the Nardaran events.

"These people, despite the long prison terms, continue to be subjected to pressure in prisons, where they are tortured," Mammadov said.

He noted that political prisoners are divided into different categories: "prisoners of Nardaran", "prisoners of the monument", and "prisoners of facebook". However, all these cases combine common features and criteria - falsification of charges, illegal sentences, violations of rights in custody.

The presentation of a new human rights organization, the Union for the Freedom of Political Prisoners of Azerbaijan (FSPCA), took place on November 14 Its founders were: Leyla Yunus (Director of the Institute for Peace and Democracy), Hilal Mammadov (Chief Editor of the Tolyshi Sado newspaper), head of the Center for Monitoring Political Prisoners Elshan Hasanov and Eldaniz Guliyev (Chairman of the Union of Intellectuals of Azerbaijan).- 21С--