What did Minister Fikret Mammadov conceal in his speech?

November 22 is marked the 100th anniversary of the creation of Azerbaijani justice. At the festive meeting in the ministry, the head of the department Fikret Mammadov spoke how the state pays special attention to the work of justice agencies and courts, thoroughly updates the legislation, the head of state signed decrees and orders on the development and modernization of justice agencies and courts, carried out government programs. He reminded that many employees of justice, judges were awarded honorary, as well as the highest special titles, they were awarded orders and medals, noted the creation of the Probation Service, over 500 convicts are at home, wearing electronic bracelets on their feet, informing them of their location.

Minister F. Mammadov also spoke about the shortcomings of the department he headed. Moreover, it was said only about a very small part of the existing problems created and sustained by the efforts of the Ministry of Justice.

Over 100 judges were removed from the judicial system due to mistakes and violations, the minister said on September 24 at the zone meeting in the Agstafa district. Due to corruption offenses, 35 judges were brought to disciplinary responsibility. A fundamental assessment of the activities of 80 judges is carried out, there are red tape and unethical behavior in the work of judges, he said, without specifying for what period of time he had been dismissed and punished. And in May 2015, F. Mammadov reported that in 2014 the Judicial-Legal Counsel initiated disciplinary proceedings against 192 judges, for the gross violations committed more than 70 judges were suspended from the judicial system.

Consequently, over 100 dismissed judges, whom he spoke about recently, were punished in 2018, and 80 judges were dismissed in 2014. The second conclusion: the dismissal in 2014 did not become a lesson for the remaining judges, which led to the second mass dismissal in 2018. Does this fact not indicate the viciousness of the judicial system in Azerbaijan, condemning judges to corruption and violation of the principle of fair trial?

More than 100 candidates will be appointed to judicial positions in the near future, Mammadov said. Previous practice shows that once in the environment of experienced judges, beginners will follow in their footsteps.

Mass punishments of judges indicate the mass nature of illegal court decisions. By depriving citizens of affordable attorney protection, the state promotes the spread of illegality in courtrooms. At the event, in connection with the 100th anniversary of the Ministry of Justice, F. Mamedov did not say that the institution of advocacy and the situation with the legal protection of citizens in Azerbaijan are in a deplorable state, believes the expert in the field of law Namizad Safarov.

http://www.contact.az/ext/news/2018/11/free/Interview/ru/76851.htm

In an interview with the Azerbaijani service of Voice of America, he noted that in terms of the number of lawyers in relation to the population, Azerbaijan occupies one of the last places in the world. With 10 million people, there are 1.3 lawyers for every 10,000 people, while in neighboring Georgia there are 20. Now there are about 1,300 lawyers in Azerbaijan, of whom 500 have been admitted to the college recently and have no work experience. About 7 thousand lawyers were excluded from the process of legal protection. In addition, lawyers are concentrated mainly in Baku. There are areas of the country where there are no lawyers at all. In the past, lawyers who were not lawyers could be involved in protecting the rights of citizens. It met the needs of the population for legal aid. However, since 2018 only members of the bar association can defend citizens in courts. "Restricting the representation of citizens in courts only by lawyers left people without legal protection against the arbitrariness of state bodies," Safarov said.

The in Azerbaijani prisons and detention centers is terrible. Minister F. Mamedov also preferred not to talk about it.

The article titled "Unwritten Laws, Heat and Music: the Life of the Azerbaijani Prison" (https://www.bbc.com/russian/features-41633823) contains memories of political prisoners serving sentences. There are about 160 political prisoners in Azerbaijan, the figure is constantly changing, since only two young people were put in a cell on November 21-22. One is involved in politics as a leader of young Musavatists, the second is a relative of a foreign blogger who criticizes the government in Azerbaijan.

Human rights activist Intigam Aliyev recalled that sweets in prison are considered a luxury. The amount of products that prisoners should receive and their list are kept secret. The quality of food in the detention center and the jail is disgusting. Regular prison food - soup or soup made from bad cabbage, oil, vegetables, and old foul-smelling chicken. After it, the prisoners had a stomach ache. "At times we were given small fried fish, but also of poor quality, and it was also impossible to eat.

When I was in jail, one glass of granulated sugar and the same amount of margarine were issued for each prisoner per month; and we received one or two eggs a week. They did not give us any tea, no lump sugar, no vegetables, or other products. In the jail and the zone, we have never been given any fruits or vegetables. Even the bread there was old and stale. Only the poorest prisoners ate it, the rest bought bread for their money. Once every two months we received a piece of soap and two glasses of laundry detergent, and even then not always. All expenses for cleanliness are borne by the prisoners. Pillowcases and sheets have not changed. In winter it was cold in the cell, and unbearably hot in the summer. It is especially hard in July and August, when the temperature in the chamber reaches 50 degrees. Only on the seventh month in prison they allowed me to bring a fan to my cell at my own expense. In the cells of the jail and in the barracks there are more prisoners than provided for. In the jail it happened that there were not enough beds at all, and we had to sleep in turn. Neither in the pre-trial detention center, nor in the jail, the laws prohibit receiving the press, but in reality newspapers are not issued to prisoners.

Yadigar Sadikhov, politician:

Soap and powder were of poor quality, and I used what they passed on to me. Those who didn"t have broadcasts from home tried to get what was intended for the management. It was cold in winter, but the worst thing was in the detention center in the summer, where after 5 hours I had to return from a walk to the cell. Till 2 am I could not sleep in the barracks, where there were 130-140 people.

Rasul Jafarov, economist:

In the detention center hot water was once a week. In one cell, for example, on Saturday, the other on Wednesday, and so on. Only once a week we could swim normally. On the other days, it was necessary to boil small amounts of water. In the jail the situation was better. I was lucky that many of the magazines and books that I brought were in English. If they were in Azerbaijani or Russian, they would not have been missed because of the slightest hint of criticism.

The public alliance "Azerbaijan without political prisoners" presented a report entitled: "Conditions of detention in prison and the situation with the rights of prisoners", based on information from prisoners and their relatives, as well as on their own observations of members of the alliance established by former political prisoners and "prisoners of conscience ".

The alliance coordinator Ogtay Gyulalyev stated that human rights defenders could not be monitored in places of detention because of obstacles from the leadership of the Prison Service, which also refused to respond to inquiries.

The situation in prisons is difficult, corruption and discrimination against prisoner"s flourish. "The most depressing fact is that prisoners-patients with different infectious diseases are kept together with healthy ones. Prisoners" food is also a source of illness. Many prisoners try to eat food delivered from home," said Gyulalyev.

The facts of torture of prisoners also became frequent. He named 10 officials involved in these facts:

Arshad Mammadov (former head of the 14th jail), Alzamin Guliyev (the current head of the 14th jail), Rauf Mejidov (head of the Terter district police, and earlier deputy head of the Sabirabad police), Seyfeddin Guliyev (head of the duty unit of the Sabirabad district police), Saidov (Head of the Main Directorate for Combating Organized Crime of the Ministry of Internal Affairs), Azer Seyidov (head of the Baku jail), Shahin Osmanov (head of the Gobustan covered prison), Aftandil Agayev (head of the jail N12), Shakir Bayramov (head of the Ganja jail).

The rights of the arrested are violated from the moment of detention. All points of sale and service in penitentiary institutions pay tribute to the leadership. The attendant pays 900 manat to the head per month, the responsible worker charges 900 manat for the dining room, telephone operator 2,000 manat, the head of the food warehouse pays the most," said Gyulalyev.

The Alliance made a number of recommendations for improving the situation. In particular, it was proposed to change the legislation, close the pre-trial detention centers and jails with harsh conditions of detention, investigate corruption, etc.

Minister Fikret Mamedov did not speak about these shortcomings in his work at the festive event.

The Azerbaijani government does not admit that there are political prisoners in the country. At a press conference in Brussels in 2014, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said: "We have been members of the Council of Europe for more than 10 years. We are members of the European Court of Human Rights. This initially proves that there are no political prisoners in our country."

The position of Baku is similar with regard to detention. "As in previous years, the control over the quality of food in prisons, colonies and pre-trial detention centers is becoming more and more tight," said Mehman Sadigov, head of the public relations department of the penitentiary service. "Three times a day, the prisoners are fed, and the food is fully compliant."

Norms, declared by the decree of the Cabinet of Ministers, also correspond, according to him, to detergents, soaps and hygiene products, which are certainly issued on time. In addition, Mehman Sadigov says that "the newest medical equipment is supplied to all jails." Thus, he ascertains the official position of the Ministry of Justice.