APPF: Azerbaijan has 11 new political prisoners

The Alliance for Protection of Political Freedoms (APPF) issued a statement expressing concern about the increasing number of political prisoners in Azerbaijan. According to the APPF, eleven people sentenced in the country during the three summer months of this year are political prisoners.

In particular, the human rights organization treats six activists, sentenced in connection with the rally, which was held on April 2 in Baku by the Civil Movement for Democracy "Public Chamber" (CMDPC), as political prisoners.

Let us remind you that on August 25, the Sabail District Court of Baku pronounced sentence under Articles 233 (organization of or participation in activities that disrupt public order) and 186.1 (intentional damage or destruction of other people's property) of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan to the activists of the Azerbaijani Popular Front Party (APFP) Arif Alyshly, Sakhib Kerimov, Babek Gasanov and Zulfugar Eivazly, non-partisan Elnur Israfilov and Elshan Gasanov, a member of the "Musavat" Party. They were sentenced to imprisonment terms ranging from 1.5 to 3 years.

According to the investigators' information, during the rally held on April 2, those people violated public order, failed to surrender to the demands of the policemen and caused damage to 25 civilians and policemen. Furthermore, they stopped the bus, released three detainees from it and caused damage to the bus amounted to 1325 manats, the APPF's statement reports.

"However, the monitoring of the investigation and trial, conducted by our organization, and the findings of the lawyers of the convicted prove violation of the human rights activists' right for fair justice. Besides, the charges were politically motivated, they were not justified and based on questionable judgments," Anar Mamedli, the APPF's coordinator, said.

According to him, in particular, at the detention and during custody at the police department the activists were exposed to physical pressure. "During the trial, practically all motions of the defence were dismissed," Anar Mamedli continued.

The APPF treats Vidadi Iskenderov, the human rights activist, who was sentenced on August 27 by the Goychay District Court to three years of imprisonment under Articles 159.3 (forcing citizen to vote against his/her will or obstruction to his/her voting), 160.1 (interference with work of election commissions) and 132 (beating), as political prisoner.

"However, the course of the trial proved that the evidences had been fabricated, the investigation was based on the divergent testimonies of witnesses and victims, some of them were insane, and that was confirmed by a psychiatrist at the trial. Iskenderov's rights to fair justice also failed to be ensured," Anar Mamedli has noted.

According to him, even earlier, on July 21, the Shamkir District Court sentenced Shakhin Gasanli, the PFPA activist, to 2 years of imprisonment for political reasons. He was sentenced on fabricated charges of illegal keeping of ammunition, Anar Mamedli believes.

The APPF also treats Neimat Panakhly, the leader of the party of National statehood of Azerbaijan, who was sentenced on June 17 to 6 years of imprisonment on charges of hooliganism and causing bodily damage, as political prisoner.

Besides, the human rights organization treats young activists Jabbar Savalan (who was sentenced to 2.5 years of imprisonment on charges of illegal keeping of drugs) and Bakhtiyar Gadjiev (who was sentenced to 2 years of imprisonment on charges of evading military service) as political prisoners, considering that they were arrested for their opposition statements towards the authorities.

According to Emin Guseinov, another co-founder of the APPF, who is also the director of the Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety, all above-mentioned persons, except Neimat Panakhly, were detained in connection with the protest rallies. Thus, Savalan and Gadjiev called for participation in youth protest rallies through social networks. Gasanli was arrested before the rally of April 2.

"All these facts prove that the arrests of these persons are politically motivated and are part of the common scenario for punishment of civilly active people," Emin Guseinov believes.

The APPF believes that other human rights organizations should also treat the above-mentioned 11 persons as political prisoners. Besides, the APPF calls for fair justice for the other defendants in connection with the rally held on April 2.

Speaking of the total number of political prisoners in Azerbaijan, Anar Mamedli has noted that this number has to be clarified. "According to approximate data, the total number of political prisoners in the country, including the above mentioned 11 persons is more than 70 people," Anar Mamedli said.