The appeal of the Civil Society Committee in connection with the case of Bayram Mammadov and Giyas Ibrahimov

We, members of the Committee to Protect civil society call on the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev to demonstrate the political position of the Head of State, and to facilitate the punishment of two young men who left graffiti on the monument to Heydar Aliyev in Baku on May 10 this year.

Bayram Mammadov and Giyas Ibrahimov tried to formulate their protest against the indifference of the public and political insincerity, which many people are infected.

Eccentricity has always been inherent to young people, and under the economic and moral crisis just such youth publicly indicates an unhealthy atmosphere in the society. And we all see it, and we all become witnesses of new manifestations of the crisis.

Of course, the act of two young men cannot be approved, since they are forms of illegal and immoral manifestations of vandalism, desecration, and both should be held accountable for their conduct to the law. But the use of violence against boys and degrading action by the state, as well as fabricated charges of crimes (use and possession of drugs), which they did not commit is fundamentally unacceptable and criminal.

These actions by the state cause serious damage to such as the immutable principles of the rule of law and fair justice, and above all, represent the state itself as an instrument of violence, but not a just institution governing and smoothing the public interest and controversy.

 We call on to correct such actions of young people not by violence, but by public censure, which has a far greater significance than the punishment of the state. This topic deserves public attention and discussion, with the aim to prevent the recurrence of such acts in the future.

In this regard, we call upon the Azerbaijani President to commute the sentence to young people and to launch a public dialogue on the ethical aspects of historical memory, a part of which  are not  only  monuments  to the state and public figures, but also to ordinary citizens, the memory  is also very expensive for their relatives and friends.

Baku 05.25.2016