Updated List of Political Prisoners Includes 142 Names

The working group on a single list of political prisoners on March 23 published an updated list, which includes the names of 142 people.

When compiling the list, the working group proceeded from the five criteria defined in the PACE resolution adopted on October 3, 2012:

(a) If the detention was carried out directly in violation of one of the main guarantees set forth in the European Convention on Human Rights and its protocols; (b) If the detention decision was made for purely political reasons, without regard to any criminal offense; (c) If, for political reasons, the length of the custody or its conditions is clearly not proportional to the crime; d) if, for political reasons, a person is detained on a discriminatory basis compared to other persons; (e) If the detention is the result of proceedings that were manifestly unfair, and this appears to be related to the political motivations of the authorities.

Political prisoners in the list are divided into 9 groups.

The group Journalists / Bloggers includes 11 people, including Nijat Aliyev, Araz Guliyev, Seymour Hazi, Mehman Huseynov, Fikret Faramazoglu, Afghan Mukhtarly, Aziz Orujov, Afghan Sadygov, Rashad Ramazanov, Elchin Ismayilli and Zia Assadli.

Then a separate group includes the poet Tofig Hasanli and the writer Sadai Shekerly.

The lawyer and human rights activist Aliabbas Rustamov is included in the group Human Rights Activists.

The group Political and Social Activists includes 12 people. Among them are two deputy chairmen of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA) Gezal Bayramli and Fuad Gahramanly, an adviser to the head of the organization Mammad Ibrahim, three PFPA activists Asif Yusifli, Fuad Ahmadli and Elnur Farajov, a member of the Musavat party Alikram Khurshudov, the leader of Republican Alternative (ReAl) Ilgar Mammadov, activists of the NIDA movement Ilkin Rustamzadeh, Giyas Ibrahimov, Bayram Mammadov and Elgiz Gahramanov.

The largest group is the Believers, which includes 83 people. Of these, 59 are members of the Muslim Unity movement and others arrested in the Nardaran events of 2015.

A separate group includes the leader of the Islamic Party, Movsum Samedov, and four other persons convicted along with him.

Still imprisoned are six believers convicted for participating in the Freedom of Hijab protest that took place in the front of the Education Ministry on October 5, 2012.

Six others were arrested in May 2012 for protests against the holding of the Eurovision Song Contest in Baku. Three prisoners were arrested in the town of Masalli in the south of Azerbaijan in September 2012 for protests against the performance of half-naked dancers at a local folklore festival.

The Believers group also includes the theologians Abgul Suleymanov and Sardar Babayev, and others.

In addition, 10 believers convicted in the Sayid Dadashbeyli Group case are on the list as a separate group. In 2007, they were sentenced to long prison terms on charges of cooperation with Iran's special services and the overthrow of the constitutional order. However, human rights activists believe the investigation and the trial were conducted with gross violations and the reliability of the allegations raises serious doubts.

The group Prisoners Sentenced to Life Imprisonment still includes three former officers of the Special Troop Police Force (STPF) Elchin Amiraslanov, Arif Kazimov and Safa Poladov, who were sentenced to death in connection with the STPF insurgency in March 1995. This punishment was later replaced by life imprisonment. They were recognized as political prisoners by experts of the Council of Europe in the early 2000s.

Another 15 people are convicted in connection with social protests: one in Ismayilli (2013), four in Mingachevir (2015) and ten in Siyazan (2016).

The group Former Government Officials includes the former Minister of Health Ali Insanov and the former investigator of the Prosecutor's Office Rufat Safarov.

The group Political Hostages includes three people - Mubariz Abdullayev, Murad Adilov and Elnur Seyidov.

The working group also monitors the cases of Emin Saghiyev and Renat Aliyev. -06D--