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Imprisoned newspaper editor Eynulla Fatullayev has been charged with drugs offences after Azerbaijani authorities claim to have found heroin in his cell. After brief court session it has been ruled that he should stand under the new charge. This fresh accusation comes as the European Court of Human Rights deliberates his case.
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The imprisonment of two online activists shows the battle for democracy is increasingly fought online, says Vugar Gojayev
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Bloggers Adnan Hajizada and Emin Milli were sentenced on 11 November to two years and two-and-a-half years in prison respectively. Human rights groups and analysts believe the sentences are politically motivated, and that the they were sentenced on trumped-up charges. Before the incident and their subsequent arrest, the bloggers had criticised the government through a satirical video posted online featuring a donkey giving a press conference. The bloggers’ lawyer Isakhan Ashurov said that they were planning an appeal, and would take the case to the European Court of Human Rights if necessary. (Hurriyet Daily News/AFP)
An additional charge of “intentional physical violence” have been brought against Adnan Hadji Zadeh and Emin Milli, two bloggers who have been held on a hooliganism charge since July in Azerbaijan. The new charge carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison, in addition to the five years they are already facing for hooliganism. Read more here