“We are seriously concerned that the three human rights defenders are being prosecuted in retaliation for their legitimate work in documenting alleged widespread irregularities and human rights violations around the presidential elections of 9 October 2013. All charges brought against them should be dropped and Anar Mammadli should be released immediately,” urged the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, Maina Kiai.After the recent presidential elections on 9 October 2013, Anar Mammadli, the Chairperson of the Election Monitoring and Democracy Study Centre (EMDS), along with EMDSC’s Executive Director Bashir Suleymanli, were interrogated on their election monitoring work and their acceptance of foreign funding.

Anar Mammadli and Bashir Suleymanli are being tried at the Grave Crime Court of Baku, together with Elnur Mammadov, President of the Volunteers of International Cooperation Public Union (VIC). They face up to 12 years’ imprisonment for being accused of conducting business activity by an organized group without registration and for abusing official powers, among other charges. Anar Mammadli has been in pre-trial detention since 16 December 2013.

In their joint statement of 9 May 2014, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association and the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders call for the charges to be dropped and remind that Anar Mammadli was one of the participants in the consultation convened by Mr. Kiai in June 2013 in Geneva in preparation of his report on the exercise of the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of association in the context of elections.

The United Nations Special Rapporteurs had already written, in a private communication to the government of Azerbaijan on 26 November 2013, about the investigations into EMDS. To date, Azerbaijan has not replied to the Special Rapporteurs.

“The fact that independent United Nations experts view the charges as being fabricated highlights that the present legal procedure aims at punishing human rights defenders such as Anar Mammadli and his colleagues due to their work, not at ensuring the rule of law,” says Florian Irminger, Head of Advocacy of the Human Rights House Foundation (HRHF).


Procedure in court: HRHF’s letter to the Judge presiding over the proceedings

On 12 May, HRHF sent a letter to Judge Rauf Aliyev (letter in Azerbaijani), who is chairing the courtroom in front of which the case is dealt with, and  Prosecutor General Zakir Bakir oglu Garalov, to share the findings of the special rapporteurs.

The court hearing against the accused have been drastically accelerated the week of 5 May. Started on Monday 21 April, the hearings were supposed to take place once a week. HRHF’s Florian Irminger was present in the hearing of Monday 5 May at which the judge decided to hold a hearing on Tuesday 6 May. HRHF has been present at those hearings, the very days Azerbaijan was elected as Chairman of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. Since Tuesday 6 May, hearings took place every day.

“We have witnessed that the accusations are far-fetched: Azerbaijan should listen to those United Nations voices and drop the charges and release Anar Mammadli,” Florian Irminger added.

 

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