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Harassment of activist and family must stop

Ilkin Rustamzade
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Ilkin Rustamzade, an activist and then member of the pro-democracy youth group NIDA, was arrested in March 2013 on fabricated charges of hooliganism. He had allegedly posted a satirical video on YouTube. Authorities later added charges of inciting violence and organizing mass disorder for planning a peaceful protest rally in 2013. In May 2014 he was sentenced to eight years in prison following an unfair trial, together with seven other members of NIDA. He spent six years in prison and was released on 17 March 2019 further to a presidential pardon, but his unfair convictions were not quashed.



On 7 March 2019, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) had ruled that Ilkin Rustamzade was detained unlawfully, in violation of his right to liberty and security under Article 5.1 of the European Convention on Human Rights. 



Recently, the Azerbaijani authorities have used the COVID-19 pandemic to increasingly crack down on their critics.

On 19 March 2020, in his Novruz Bayrami greetings to the nation President Ilham Aliyev announced “new rules” for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic including “isolating” and “clearing” Azerbaijan’s already fragmented political opposition (https://en.president.az/articles/36212). High-profile arrests of political and civil activists under spurious charges have followed the president’s pronouncement, including the arrest of opposition activist Tofig Yagublu on charges of hooliganism (https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/EUR55/2029/2020/en/) and human rights defender Elchin Mammad on charges of theft (https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/eur55/2069/2020/en/). 



As the arrests and politically motivated prosecution of critics continue, Azerbaijan remains closed to human rights scrutiny. International human rights monitors, including Amnesty International, have been denied access to the country for several years.

 

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