16 Apr 15 | Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan News, Europe and Central Asia, mobile, News and features
Rasul Jafarov (Photo: Melody Patry)
Rasul Jafarov, one of Azerbaijan’s best-known human rights activists and government critics, was sentenced on 16 April to six years and six months in prison on charges including tax evasion and abuse of power. He has also been barred from holding any office for three years following his release, reports contact.az.
The charges have been widely dismissed as trumped up and linked to Jafarov’s campaigning work in a country that has been continually criticised for its poor human rights record. Jafarov was notably behind the Sing For Democracy campaign when Azerbaijan hosted the Eurovision Song Contest in 2012, and among other things met with eventual winner Loreen to discuss the human rights situation in the country. When he was arrested in August 2014, Jafarov was also planning a Sports For Rights campaign in connection with this summer’s inaugural European Games. Backed by the European Olympic Committees (EOC), the games will be held in the capital Baku from 12 June.
“The sentencing of Rasul Jafarov is just the latest chapter in Azerbaijan’s ongoing attack on civil society. We must not allow the glitz of the Baku 2015 European Games to whitewash President Ilham Aliyev’s abysmal record on human rights,” said Index CEO Jodie Ginsberg.
After the announcement of the verdict, Jafarov said he believes the case against him is fabricated and politically motivated.
Jafarov’s arrest is part of an unprecedented crackdown on prominent journalists, activists and others critical of the leadership of President Aliyev. It was also announced this week that the prosecution is seeking ten years in prison for human rights lawyer Intigam Aliyev, who was detained around the same time as Jafarov.
10 Apr 15 | Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan News, Europe and Central Asia, mobile, News and features
From top left: Arif Yunus, Rasul Jafarov, Leyla Yunus, Khadija Ismayilova, Intigam Aliyev and Anar Mammadli – some of the government critics jailed on trumped up charges in Azerbaijan
Social media users have hijacked the hashtag #HelloBaku to draw attention to human rights and free speech violations in Azerbaijan ahead of this summer’s inaugural European Games in the capital Baku.
Baku 2015 organisers launched the hashtag contest on 4 March 2015, as part of a promotional push ahead of the games, which start on 12 June. Social media users were invited to enter by posting a photo or video of themselves holding a sign with #HelloBaku written on it. The winner, set to be announced this week, will be awarded two tickets to the opening ceremony, as well as a night at a luxury hotel and flights.
But the campaign backfired, as a number of social media users instead used #HelloBaku to highlight Azerbaijan’s poor record on human rights. According to the latest estimates, there are over 100 political prisoners in the country. Since last summer, authorities have been engaged in an unprecedented onslaught against its most prominent critics, jailing investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova, pro-democracy activist Rasul Jafarov, human rights lawyer Intigam Aliyev and others on trumped up charges. On 9 April, prosecutors asked for a 9-year sentence for Jafarov, who stands accused of tax evasion and malpractice, among other things.
On 30 March, the same day the contest closed, Human Rights Watch researcher Giorgi Gogia, who was set to attend the trial hearing of Aliyev and Jafarov, was blocked from entering Azerbaijan. Traveling from his native Georgia, Gogia does not require a visa to go to Azerbaijan. Despite this, his passport was taken away and he was held at the Heydar Aliyev International Airport in Baku for 31 hours without explanation, before being sent back to Tbilisi.
Azerbaijan’s authorities, led by President Ilham Aliyvev, have been accused by human rights groups of running an expensive international PR operation to whitewash rights violations, and present the country as a “modern, outward looking state“. According to the Baku European Games Operation Committee (BEGOC), the games will “showcase Azerbaijan as a vibrant and modern European nation of great achievement”.
London-based marketing firm 1000heads, whose clients include Yahoo, Procter & Gamble and Lego, worked with Baku 2015 organisers on #HelloBaku. Index contacted 1000heads to ask whether they were aware of criticisms against Azerbaijan’s human rights record before taking on the job, and their response to the hijacking of the hashtag.
“We were working with BEGOC, the Baku European Games Operation Committee, which is responsible for delivering the event for athletes from the 49 National Olympic Committees of Europe. We are no longer involved,” 1000heads CEO Mike Rowe said in an email.
This article was posted on 8 April 2015 at indexoncensorship.org
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
13 Oct 14 | Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan News, Europe and Central Asia, News and features
Thousands of Azerbaijanis took to the street on Sunday, calling for the resignation of President Ilham Aliyev, the release of political prisoners and an end to human rights abuses in the country. The protest comes during an ongoing and wide reaching crackdown on regime critics.
On Saturday, investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova was placed under a travel ban. The award-winning reporter has covered corruption allegedly connected to Aliyev, and has been targeted by government supporters in the past. She is currently facing criminal charges of libel and document forgery, which she denies and vows to fight.
Last week, Index reported journalist Arzu Geybulla being threatened on social media and accused of treason after being interviewed by Azerbaijani news site Modern.az.
These cases follow the jailing of several prominent and critical voices within Azerbaijan’s civil society. Human rights defender Leyla Yunus and her husband Arif were detained in July, followed by fellow rights activist Rasul Jafarov, lawyer Intigam Aliyev and journalist Seymur Hezi.
The European Parliament recently called on Azerbaijan — currently chairing the Council of Europe — to release several prominent political prisoners and proceed with reforming the country’s human rights policies. Before being arrested, Jafarov had worked on putting together a detailed list of the country’s political prisoners, with the latest figure coming to 98.
The protest, which also called for closer ties to the European Union, was approved by authorities, but took place in a remote part of Baku.
All photos by Ramin Deko
This article was posted on 10 October 2014 at indexoncensorship.org
