27 Jan 15 | Azerbaijan Statements, Campaigns, mobile
Khadija Ismayilova
On 27 January, a court in Baku extended the pre-trial detention for the investigative journalist. As Azerbaijan continues its crackdown on civil society, Index on Censorship, Platform and 89up have launched a petition calling for the immediate release of journalists and rights activists.
If you live in the UK, the petition will send a letter to your MP asking them to sign Early Day Motion 718, calling on the government of Azerbaijan to release political prisoners in the country and uphold international human rights standards.
Ismayilova was arrested on 5 December 2014, amidst a renewed assault on civil rights in Azerbaijan by authorities. This comes ahead of the inaugural European Games which will be held in the country in June 2015.
In the past seven months, well-known human rights activists and journalists, including Leyla Yunus, Intigam Aliyev, Rasul Jafarov, Anar Mammadli and Seymur Hezi, have been arrested on spurious charges. In addition to politically-motivated arrests, attempts to silence critical voices also included raids on the offices of Radio Azadliq and the Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety (IRFS) in Baku.
On 13 Feb, lawyer Fariz Namazly told Contact.az that new charges have been filed against Ismayilova. According to him, Ismayilova is charged under the Article: 179.3.2 (large-scale embezzlement), 192.2.2 (illegal business), 213.1 (tax evasion) and 308.2 (abuse of power.) The charges carry a possible sentence of 12 years.
On 6 March, Ismayilova’s pre-trial detention had been extended an additional two months, until May 24.
Action is needed to reverse the deteriorating environment for free expression in Azerbaijan.
Send a letter to your MP here.
Sign a petition calling on Azerbaijan to release political prisoners here.
16 Jan 15 | Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan Letters, News and features
Journalist Seymur Hezi, who works for Index award-winning Azadliq newspaper, is in prison awaiting trial. Hezi was arrested on trumped-up charges of hooliganism on 29 August 2014. The journalist denies the charges, says they are politically motivated and are linked to his work.
Hezi has shared a letter with Meydan TV:
I feel good in the prison. I have no complaints in regard to my health and general mood. There is nothing different besides that I miss my friends and relatives. I think about what is going around and read much. I wouldn’t like to waste my time. I don’t know how much time I’ll spend here, so I don’t want to lose this period. My advice to the youth in freedom is that, wasting time for nothing is unacceptable, whatever the conditions are.
Sometimes I get some newspapers. Recently, I’ve read in one of them the letter Khadija Ismail wrote from the prison and I was impressed. Maybe, the very first reason is that we are very close here from the viewpoint of distance. Here, in Kurdakhany, the distance between us may be some 100 feet, only. Maybe, even less. The author of the letter is kept some 100 feet away me.
I possess strange feelings after reading her letter. The letter full of will and determination has been written by a woman. An Azerbaijani woman. You know that we had many of such determined and strong-willed women in our history. But such determination and will of struggle in a woman in prison… It is a true historical event. It is the history of our will, determination and decisiveness. Particularly, of our women…
Khadija Ismail is one of the greatest examples of righteousness truthfulness and the direct expression of true words. For her, there is only truth and nothing else and it is right, whatever the arguments are. It is right despite of all obstacles in front of her. She is being tested for it every single day.
I don’t know whether we owe it to extreme patriarchal state of our society or something else, expressing the power, endeavor and bravery of a woman, our fathers have always said: “Sheis a woman like a man”. Today, observing a woman like Khadija, we can change this saying. For expressing the manhood and will of a man, I would say: “He is a man like the Azerbaijani woman” or more correctly: “He is a man just like Khadija”.
My greetings to my friends and relatives. I kiss and hug all of you. Wish to reach beautiful days of freedom. Earlier or later, we will meet soon. I love you.
Your friend,
Seymur Hezi
01/13/2015
This article was originally posted on 14 January 2015 at meydan.tv. It is reposted here with permission.
15 Jan 15 | Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan News, Europe and Central Asia, News and features
Rasul Jafarov in September 2013 (Photo: Melody Patry)
Locked in a double iron cage in a packed courtroom, Azerbaijani activist and regime critic Rasul Jafarov saw his trial open on Thursday.
Detained since 2 August, Jafarov stands accused of crimes including tax evasion, illegal entrepreneurship, abuse of office and forgery. The charges are widely believed to be trumped up and in connection to his human rights campaigning works. He could be sentenced to up to 12 years in prison.
Citing a lack of evidence of guilt, Jafarov’s lawyers requested the case be dropped, reported contact.az. They also asked, among other things, that he be allowed to sit with them. Both requests were denied.
The case against Jafarov is part of an ongoing onslaught against critical civil society by Azerbaijani authorities. Campaigners Leyla and Arif Yunus and lawyer Intigam Aliyev were all arrested around the same time as Jafarov, and remain in detention. Investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova, who has reported on official corruption, was detained on 5 December 2014. Journalist Seymur Hazi, who has worked for Index journalism award winning Azadliq newspaper, is also in detention. There are currently more than 90 reported political prisoners in Azerbaijan.
In a recent development, authorities raided the Azerbaijan bureau of the US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
Jafarov, 30, is chairman of the organisation Human Rights Club, and one of Azerbaijan’s most prominent human rights activists. When capital Baku hosted the Eurovision Song Contest in 2012, he organised the Sing for Democracy campaign to draw attention to rights abuses by President Ilham Aliyev’s government. Aliyev has been in power since 2003, succeeding his father Heydar. In 2013 he was re-elected for a third term, amid claims of voting fraud.
Jafarov was also planning on staging a Sport for Rights campaign when the inaugural European Olympics come to Baku this summer.
In August, he wrote an appeal to the international community from jail, saying that “the past 2-3 years everyone was asking half-joking, half-serious, when I was going to be arrested. It happened, and now I’m looking forward to your support!”
“As we focus on threats to free expression in countries like France in the wake of the attacks on Charlie Hebdo, it is vital that we remember the plight of the thousands of individuals worldwide facing daily harassment, threats of violence, and detention, for exercising their rights to free speak freely,” said Index CEO Jodie Ginsberg.
“Azerbaijan is one of the world’s worst countries for free speech. We call on the Azerbaijan government to release Rasul, and others detained for attempting to speak out about the country’s deplorable human rights record. We also urge other governments – who have professed so volubly in recent days their believe in the importance of free speech — to join our call for Rasul’s release.”
“The arrest of Rasul Jafarov, along with other main human rights defenders in Azerbaijan, such as Intigam Aliyev, Leyla Yunus, Anar Mammadli or journalist Khadija Ismayil, shows how the authorities handle critics: there is no space for dialogue in society but enough space for repression and imprisonment,” Florian Irminger, head of advocacy at the Human Rights House Foundation, said.
This article was posted on 15 January 2015 at indexoncensorship.org
23 Dec 14 | Azerbaijan Statements, News and features, Statements
Azerbaijan’s government continues to repress civil society activists, human rights defenders and journalists. Many of them are now behind bars on trumped up charges, but in fact they were arrested for their human rights activities.
Index on Censorship and the Civic Solidarity Platform invite you to express your solidarity with our colleagues in Azerbaijan, who won’t be able to celebrate New Year’s Eve with their relatives and friends. Send them a postcard with words of support.
Here are addresses of our colleagues who are in detention:
Rasul Jafarov (Rəsul Cəfərov), Baki İstintaq Tecridxanasi, Kürdaxani qesebesi, Baku AZ1000, Azerbaijan
Intigam Aliyev (İntiqam Əliyev), Baki İstintaq Tecridxanasi, Kürdaxani qesebesi, Baku AZ1000, Azerbaijan
Leyla Yunus, Baki İstintaq Tecridxanasi, Kürdaxani qesebesi, Baku AZ1000, Azerbaijan
Anar Mammadli (Anar Məmmədli), Baki İstintaq Tecridxanasi, Kürdaxani qesebesi, Baku AZ1000, Azerbaijan
Bashir Suleymanli (Bəşir Süleymanlı), Baki İstintaq Tecridxanasi, Kürdaxani qesebesi, Baku AZ1000, Azerbaijan
Khadija Ismayilova (Xədicə İsmayıl), Baki İstintaq Tecridxanasi, Kürdaxani qesebesi, Baku AZ1000, Azerbaijan
Arif Yunusov, MTN Intintaq Tecridxanasi, Parlament Prospekti, 14, Baku AZ1006, Azerbaijan
REFERENCE
Leyla Yunus (was arrested in the 30 of July) – director of the Azerbaijan Institute of Peace and Democracy. Merit in advocacy Leyla Yunus awarded the prize “Knight of the Legion of Honor of France,” she is also the winner of the International Prize Theodore Hecker. She is accused of 217 (parricide), 178 (fraud), 192 (illegal business) and 213 (tax evasion) of the Criminal Code. She detained for three months. Analysis of the situation in a statement.
Rasul Jafarov (was arrested in the 2 of August) – one of the initiators and coordinators of the campaign “Sing for Democracy” and “The Art of Democracy”, advocated for the rights of political prisoners, actively participated in the International Platform “Civil Solidarity.” He is accused of: tax evasion (Article 192), illegal business (Article 213) and malpractice (Article 308). Statement by the Civil Solidarity Platform
Arif Yunus (was arrested in the 6 of August) – Head of the Department of Conflict and Migration Institute of Peace and Democracy in Azerbaijan, Ph.D., a conflictologist, a historian. Were initiated the criminal case concerning him under the next article 274 (parricide) и 178 (fraud). More about his arrest
Anar Mammadli and Bashir Suleymanli (arrested on 16 December 2013, sentenced to 5.5 and 3.5 years respectively in May 2014) are prominent human rights activists and founders of the Election Monitoring and Democracy Studies Centre. Arrested and jailed, following outspoken criticism of presidential elections in October 2013, in spite of international protests. On 29 September 2014, Mammadli was awarded the Václav Havel Award for Human Rights by the Council of Europe. Analysis of the situation in a statement.
Intigam Aliyev (arrested on 8 August) is a human rights defender and a lawyer specialized in defending rights of citizens in the European Court of Human Rights. He is charged with Articles 213.1 (tax evasion), 308.2 (malpractice) и 192.2 (illegal business) of the Criminal Code.
Khadija Ismayilova (arrested on 5 December) is an investigative journalist and radio host who is currently working for the Azerbaijani service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. She is a member of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project. She was arrested under charges of incitement to suicide, a charge widely criticized by human rights organizations. Analysis of the situation in a statement.
