HRHN’s Ane Bonde said about his imprisonment
“Anar Mammadli has been wrongfully imprisoned for two years. This is a symptom of the human rights situation in Azerbaijan. We repeat our call, and echo the calls of many from across civil society and international institutions for his immediate and unconditional release.”

 

Anar Mammadli is a prominent Azerbaijani human rights defender and was one of the founders of the Election Monitoring and Democracy Studies Centre (EMDSC) in 2008. He has been widely supported by civil society with
two United Nations special rapporteurs have called for the immediate release of Anar Mammadli and for all charges against him to be dropped.
In a joint written declaration submitted at the January 2014 session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), 61 members of parliaments from Council of Europe member States have also called upon the authorities of Azerbaijan to release him.

 

On 12 May 2014, in a letter to Judge Rauf Aliyev of the Court on Grave Crimes, HRHN called upon the Judge and the Prosecutor General’s Office to follow the analysis made by the UN experts and to immediately “drop all charges” against Anar Mammadli and his colleagues from EMDSC. Bashir Suleymanli, who co-founded EMDSC along with Anar was released when president Ilham Aliyev signed a presidential pardon 19 March 2015.

 

Member NGOs of the South Caucasus Network of Human Rights Defenders and the Human Rights House Network in a joint letter of 12 November 2013 called upon the President and the Prosecutor General of the Republic of Azerbaijan to put an end to the investigations into the activities of EMDS, which they consider as a harassment diminishing its independence and impeding on the right to freedom of association. The NGOs stated that they see the case opened against EMDS as “related to the organisation’s activities and its conclusions in regard to the Presidential elections of 9 October 2013. Its conclusions are documented, fact-based and provide important first-hand information to international actors. Hence, it is a disturbing voice – as the Election Monitoring Centre was until May 2008.”