Protect bloggers in Azerbaijan

Screengrab from a youtube video in which two Azeri blogger-activists staged a mock press conference critical of the Azerbaijan government.

LETTER FAX

Two youth activists and bloggers were arrested on charges of “hooliganism on 8 July, after reporting to police that they had been assaulted in a restaurant in Baku, the Azerbaijan capital.

Their arrest came just over a week after Adnan Hajizade posted a video critical of the Azerbaijani government on the video-sharing website YouTube (pictured). On 11 November, Adnan Hajizade was sentenced to two years, and Emin Abdullayev to two and a half years, after being convicted in an unfair trial.

UPDATE: 25 JUNE 2010

On 12 April Adnan Hajizade and Emin Milli were separated and moved to different prisons. Emin Milli is being treated well and has no issues with his prison conditions.

Adnan Hajizade, however, is not permitted visits from his friends and is detained in a run-down prison with poor conditions. Their lawyers are able to visit Adnan Hajizade and Emin Milli regularly.

It will be Adnan's 27th birthday on 13th July. Please send a birthday card with a simple message of goodwill to:

Adnan Hajizade
Poselok Gyzyldash
Coloniya N 14
Karadagskiy Rayon
Baku
Azerbaijan

Suggested messages for your card:

"Biz sizin haqqinizda fikirlashirik" (We are thinking of you)
"An xosh arzularla" (With best wishes)

You may send religious cards and you can mention Amnesty International in your message if you wish. However, please do not include your return address: instead, please simply include your first name or initials and your country only.

Please also continue to write appeals to the Azerbaijani authorities, calling for Adnan and Emins immediate release.

UPDATE: 10 MARCH 2010
Today a Baku court upheld the convictions of Adnan Hajizade and Emin Milli. Amnesty International believes their trial was unfair and that the two are prisoners of conscience.

In none of the seven appeal hearings were the two key witnesses called to give evidence. The appeal court upheld the original court decision to reject evidence without explanation, including photographs of the bloggers injuries and video footage of the incident. Read the press release

UPDATE: 3 MARCH 2010
The next appeal hearing for Emin Milli and Adnan Hajizade has been postponed again, this time to 10 March, after a procedural hearing today. During today's hearing a petition by the defence to have the appeal judges replaced was dismissed by the court. Please continue to take action and we'll update you again as soon as we have further news.

UPDATE: 18 FEBRUARY 2010
The next appeal hearing for Emin Milli and Adnan Hajizade has been postponed to 3 March. Please continue to take action and we'll update you again as soon as we have further news.

UPDATE: 12 FEBRUARY 2010
The next appeal hearing for Emin Milli and Adnan Hajizade has been postponed to 17 February. Please continue to take action and we'll update you again as soon as we have further news.

UPDATE: 22 JANUARY 2010
We have just heard that Adnan and Emin's appeal hearing has been postponed again. Please continue to take action and weâ€™ll update you as soon as we have further news.

UPDATE: 8 JANUARY 2009
At a preliminary hearing in Azerbaijan's capital, Baku, on 22 December the judge denied the defence lawyers' petition to have the pair released on bail. During the hearing Emin Abdullayev and Adnan Hajizade were kept locked in a steel cage.

Background information

Emin Abdullayev and Adnan Hajizade have used online networking tools, including Youtube, Facebook and Twitter, to disseminate information about the socio-political situation in Azerbaijan. Emin Abdullayev is also a co-founder of a youth group Alumni Network while Adnan Hajizade is a coordinator of the youth movement OL!, which advocates non-violence and tolerance. Emin Abdullayev was also an outspoken critic of changes to the Azerbaijani Constitution set out in a referendum on 18 March 2009, following which the presidential term limit was abolished potentially allowing current President Ilham Aliyev or any successor to stand for re-election on a continuous basis.

Amnesty International has repeatedly highlighted its concerns on the increasingly limited sphere for freedom of expression in Azerbaijan and about the use of criminal charges to silence peaceful dissenting voices, most recently in its report Azerbaijan: Independent journalists under siege. For instance, prisoner of conscience Qanimat Zahid, the editor-in-chief of opposition newspaper Azadliq, was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment on charges of hooliganism and assault in March 2008. Several other journalists have also been imprisoned on false charges in the past few years.

The international community has also expressed concerns about Emin Abdullayev and Adnan Hajizade. For example, on 23 July 2009, the Swedish Presidency of the European Union (EU) issued a statement on behalf of the EU in which it expressed concern at the arrest of the two activists, and reiterated its concern in a statement on 13 November, regretting that the trial proceedings did not reflect due process and believes that the court decision may further undermine the freedom of expression in Azerbaijan. On 12 November, Thorbjørn Jagland, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, also voiced concern about the very harsh sentences imposed by the court in Azerbaijan on Adnan Hajizade and Emin Abdullayev and stated that this sequence of events “will have an inevitable chilling effect on freedom of expression in Azerbaijan.”

In its concluding observations with regard to Azerbaijan, published on 13 August 2009 after consideration of reports on Azerbaijan during its 96th session in July, the UN Human Rights Committee expressed concern about the “recent arrest and detention on remand of individuals who had expressed opinions in non-conventional media, especially since no explanation was provided as to why the arrest took place after the individuals had reported to the police attacks on themselves and why the judicial proceedings against them for hooliganism were not held in public.” The Committee also reiterated its concern about reports of attacks on journalists, the closure of independent newspapers, the removal of licences for foreign radio stations to broadcast locally and the pattern of hooliganism charges against journalists, and urged Azerbaijan to take the necessary measures to put an end to direct and indirect restrictions on freedom of expression.

LETTER FAX

Two youth activists and bloggers were arrested on charges of “hooliganism on 8 July, after reporting to police that they had been assaulted in a restaurant in Baku, the Azerbaijan capital.

UPDATE: 25 JUNE 2010

On 12 April Adnan Hajizade and Emin Milli were separated and moved to different prisons. Emin Milli is being treated well and has no issues with his prison conditions.

Adnan Hajizade, however, is not permitted visits from his friends and is detained in a run-down prison with poor conditions. Their lawyers are able to visit Adnan Hajizade and Emin Milli regularly.

It will be Adnan's 27th birthday on 13th July. Please send a birthday card with a simple message of goodwill to:

Adnan Hajizade
Poselok Gyzyldash
Coloniya N 14
Karadagskiy Rayon
Baku
Azerbaijan

Suggested messages for your card:

"Biz sizin haqqinizda fikirlashirik" (We are thinking of you)
"An xosh arzularla" (With best wishes)

Please also continue to write appeals to the Azerbaijani authorities, calling for Adnan and Emins immediate release.

Please print and send the letter below, calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Adnan and Emin.

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Ilham Aliyev - President

Office of the President of the Azerbaijan Republic
19 Istiqlaliyyat Street
Baku AZ1066
AZERBAIJAN
Fax: 00 994 12 492 0625

Fikrat Mammadov - Minister of Justice

1, Inshaatchylar prospect
Baku AZ1065
Azerbaijan
Fax: +994 12 430 09 81

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Dear (recipient name)

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I am writing to you with regard to Adnan Hajizade and Emin Milli, who were sentenced in November 2009 on fabricated charges to two and to two and a half years respectively, following their arrest on 8 July.  I am deeply concerned to learn that their appeal against their conviction was turned down on 10 March 2010 following an unfair hearing, and that their original conviction after an unfair trial stands.

Amnesty International believes  Adnan Hajizade and Emin Milli to be prisoners of conscience, detained solely for the peaceful exercise of their right to freedom of expression and association. I strongly urge you to immediately and unconditionally release them.

Furthermore, I ask that the Azerbaijani authorities conduct an immediate, thorough, and impartial investigation into the allegation that it was in fact Adnan Hajizade and Emin Milli who were the victims of an unprovoked assault, rather than the perpetrators.

My thanks for your urgent attention to this important case. I look forward to receiving your response.

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Protect bloggers in Azerbaijan

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