Azerbaijan: Persecuted writer Akram Aylisli faces charges of “hooliganism”

Akram Aylisli

Akram Aylisli

Azerbaijani writer Akram Aylisli, who has had his books burned by authorities, sent the following statement to Index on Censorship regarding his detention on 30 March 2016:

On 30 March, I, accompanied by my son, planned to travel to Venice via Frankfurt to participate in the Incroci di Civilta literature festival as a guest speaker.

When I arrived at Baku’s Heydar Aliyev International Airport, around 4am local time, the border service said I could not travel, but provided no reason for the denial and detained me for five hours, well after the plane departed at 5.11am.

My bags, which had already been checked in, were taken off the plane and searched. At around 9:30am I was transferred into the custody of airport police and falsely accused of creating a public disturbance, hindering the work of border guards and harassing other passengers. I was held in police custody for over 10 hours and interrogated.

Later in the evening, the head of shift of the border service, an athletically built young man, made a new absurd accusation that I, a 78-year-old writer in poor health and suffering from a heart condition, punched him in the chest with such great strength that it caused a hematoma. This supposedly happened in a small room with no surveillance cameras during a personal search while my son was briefly outside.

I have been told that a criminal case against me was opened by the airport police under Criminal Code Article 222.1 “hooliganism”.

Absurdly and illogically, this alleged incident of punching a border guard happened well after the plane departed and was later used by the border service as an explanation for denying the border crossing before the plane had left!

I was released from police custody at around 8pm local time. My foreign passport was retained by police and only returned on the next day.

New fiction, translated into English for the first time, by author Akram Aylisli will appear in the next issue of Index on Censorship magazine

27 May: 40 protests for Khadija Ismayilova’s 40th birthday

Khadija Ismayilova

Khadija Ismayilova

Recently-released Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova was due to mark her 40th birthday in prison on Friday 27 May 2016, but she was released two days prior during her appeal. However, several charges against her remain.

Arrested in December 2014, Khadija was serving a seven-and-a-half year prison sentence in Azerbaijan on politically motivated charges of tax evasion, illegal entrepreneurship and abuse of power.

The real reason for Ismayilova’s imprisonment, however, was her investigative journalism. For many years, Ismayilova has been one of very few journalists in Azerbaijan willing to explore risky topics like human rights abuses and corruption among Azerbaijan’s ruling elite. Her reporting shed light on many truths the Azerbaijani authorities would prefer to keep hidden, and she is paying a high price for her courageous work.

To mark Ismayilova’s birthday, call for all charges against her to be quashed and for the immediate release of all political prisoners in Azerbaijan, the Sport for Rights campaign is collaborating with other networks to coordinate a series of parallel protests in cities around the world. The campaign is aiming for the symbolic number of 40 protests but will need your help.

If you are concerned by Ismayilova’s case and want to take a stand for human rights in Azerbaijan, please consider organising a peaceful protest in your city. The action can be large or small, traditional or creative, in any legally permissible spot you choose. Please get in touch through the event page or email [email protected] to discuss details. Sport for Rights will share details on the various actions by city closer to the date.

When: Friday 27 May 2016
Where: Global. Click here for updates
Get involved: If you are interested in organising a vigil, email [email protected]

Political prisoners released in Azerbaijan

We, the undersigned members of the Sport for Rights coalition, express our relief over the release of 15 political prisoners in Azerbaijan. Human rights defender Rasul Jafarov, the founder of the Sport for Rights campaign, stepped out from Baku’s Prison Number 10 into freedom on 17 March after spending 593 days unjustly jailed. The same day, the European Court of Human Rights issued a judgment in Jafarov’s case, acknowledging that his arrest and detention were politically motivated.

Jafarov was one of 14 political prisoners included in a presidential pardon decree signed on 17 March. The other political prisoners pardoned through that decree included journalists Parviz Hashimli, Hilal Mammadov, and Tofig Yagublu; human rights defenders Taleh Khasmammadov and Anar Mammadli; NIDA civic movement activists Rashadat Akhundov, Mahammad Azizov and Rashad Hasanov; bloggers Siraj Karimli and Omar Mammadov; former government official Akif Muradverdiyev; chairman of the National Statehood party Nemat Penahli; and Musavat party activist Yadigar Sadigov.

A further political prisoner, journalist Rauf Mirkadirov, was released on 17 March by the Baku Court of Appeals, which commuted his six-year prison sentence into a suspended five-year sentence. Mirkadirov had been unjustly jailed since April 2014 on politically motivated treason charges.

“We are incredibly relieved for those released yesterday, including Rasul Jafarov, who was arrested in August 2014 after launching our campaign to draw attention to human rights abuses taking place in Azerbaijan. But none of these 15 people ever should have been arrested in the first place, and dozens more remain unjustly jailed now, neglected by this pardon decree. They must be released, and this vicious cycle of politically motivated arrests must end”, said Rebecca Vincent, coordinator of the Sport for Rights campaign.

While the release of these political prisoners was the right step, we note that they never should have spent a single day in jail. Further, dozens of other political prisoners remain in Azerbaijani jails, including journalists Khadija Ismayilova and Seymur Hezi, human rights lawyer Intigam Aliyev, youth activist Ilkin Rustemzade, and opposition REAL movement leader Ilgar Mammadov, whose release has been ordered by the European Court of Human Rights.

We reiterate our call for the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners, and for an end to the cycle of politically motivated arrests in Azerbaijan. We urge the international community to continue to press for the release of the remaining political prisoners as a matter of urgent priority, and for further concrete reforms to improve the country’s dire human rights situation.

Supporting organisations:

ARTICLE 19

Civil Rights Defenders

Committee to Protect Journalists

Freedom Now

Front Line Defenders

Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights

Human Rights House Foundation

Index on Censorship

Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety

International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)

International Media Support

International Partnership for Human Rights

NESEHNUTI

Netherlands Helsinki Committee

Norwegian Helsinki Committee

PEN America

People in Need

Platform

Polish Green Network

Reporters Without Borders

World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)

Azerbaijan: Journalist Seymur Hezi marks one year in prison

Seymur Hezi was sentenced to five years in prison for "aggravated hooliganism" on 29 January 2015.

Seymur Hezi was sentenced to five years in prison for “aggravated hooliganism” on 29 January 2015.

On the anniversary of Azerbaijani journalist Seymur Hezi’s sentencing to five years imprisonment for “aggravated hooliganism,” the country’s authorities have continued to target journalists, independent media and human rights activists.

Hezi, who contributed to the Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Award-winning newspaper Azadliq, was sentenced on 29 January 2015. He was arrested on 29 August 2014 following an altercation in which the journalist was defending himself from a physical assault and harassment, according to his lawyers.

Rahim Haciyev, acting editor of Azadliq, told Index in September 2015 Hezi’s prosecution was due to his critical articles of the Azerbaijan authorities in the newspaper, as well as critiques he had made in his online TV programme, Azerbaijan Hour.

Haciyev said Hezi’s health is “very bad” due to the Azerbaijan’s awful prison conditions. Despite this, he said the journalist is working on articles about the country’s recent political history — some of which have been published in Azadliq.

In Hezi’s final statement given during his trial, he noted his belief in the shared struggle “with my dear friends at prison”. He also said: “It is not just a confrontation between the government and the opposition. It is the struggle between the good and the evil.”

After a year activism and journalism dedicated to free expression within the restricting country, not much positive change can be seen. Investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova remains in jail, doing everything in her power to continue spreading the message of truth and resistance. Human rights lawyer Amal Clooney recently offered to take Ismayilova’s case to the European Court of Human Rights.

Azadliq, which was one of Azerbaijan’s only remaining independent news outlets operating inside the country, was forced to discontinue publishing a daily print edition of the newspaper in July 2014, due to its financial situation. The paper was hit with enormous fines following multiple defamation suits in 2013, and its journalists — including Hezi — have been targeted by authorities with politically motivated charges.

“The repression and detainment of journalists are continuing,” Haciyev said. “[The] government has started to arrest Facebook activists.”

Haciyev said that because the government cannot solve its country’s main problems, they try to create new problems for society through eliminating any chance of other opinions being promoted.

This article was originally posted to Index on Censorship