Two controversial Azeri bloggers convicted
A court in Azerbaijan on Wednesday convicted two young bloggers to
jail terms on charges of hooliganism.
Adnan Hajizade, 26, was sentenced to two years in jail, while Emin Milli, 30 – to two and a half years.
The two bloggers were arrested after a brawl at a restaurant in Baku on July 8. According to law enforcement agencies, they assaulted two other men. But the opposition and their supporters claim the arrest was due to their critical writings on the internet.
The defendants denied the charges, alleging their apprehension had been ordered, while Milli’s lawyer, Elton Guliyev, claimed the ruling was a politically-motivated decision aiming to clamp down on freedom of speech in Azerbaijan. Guliyev vowed to appeal -- all the way to the European Court of Human Rights, if necessary.
"This was not a normal legal case. It was political," Guliyev told RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service. "Starting from now, we can say that these young people are political prisoners because they were arrested solely on the basis of political motivations."
Protesters gathered outside the court building after the verdict was pronounced and chanted "freedom." The protest concluded without the police interfering.
The US State Department has issued a statement calling the court’s decision "a step backwards for Azerbaijan’s progress toward democratic reform." The statement criticized "the nontransparent investigation, closed-door hearings, and disproportionate legal charges," saying they "raised concerns about the independence of the police and the judiciary as well as about restrictions on freedom of expression in Azerbaijan."
Western governments and international organizations like the Council of Europe and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) have strongly condemned the case against Milli and Hajizada.*
Adnan Hajizade, 26, was sentenced to two years in jail, while Emin Milli, 30 – to two and a half years.
The two bloggers were arrested after a brawl at a restaurant in Baku on July 8. According to law enforcement agencies, they assaulted two other men. But the opposition and their supporters claim the arrest was due to their critical writings on the internet.
The defendants denied the charges, alleging their apprehension had been ordered, while Milli’s lawyer, Elton Guliyev, claimed the ruling was a politically-motivated decision aiming to clamp down on freedom of speech in Azerbaijan. Guliyev vowed to appeal -- all the way to the European Court of Human Rights, if necessary.
"This was not a normal legal case. It was political," Guliyev told RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service. "Starting from now, we can say that these young people are political prisoners because they were arrested solely on the basis of political motivations."
Protesters gathered outside the court building after the verdict was pronounced and chanted "freedom." The protest concluded without the police interfering.
The US State Department has issued a statement calling the court’s decision "a step backwards for Azerbaijan’s progress toward democratic reform." The statement criticized "the nontransparent investigation, closed-door hearings, and disproportionate legal charges," saying they "raised concerns about the independence of the police and the judiciary as well as about restrictions on freedom of expression in Azerbaijan."
Western governments and international organizations like the Council of Europe and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) have strongly condemned the case against Milli and Hajizada.*
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