On 5 July the head of the Human Rights Center of Azerbaijan (HRCA) Eldar Zeynalov (right) had a meeting with the “AGO” Monitoring Group. The main issues of the discussion were current political situation in Azerbaijan as well as the list of political prisoners, composed by the Federation of Human Rights Organizations of Azerbaijan. (06-JUL-07)

Written by Shahla Ismailova/ HRH Baku on the basis of information from Human Rights Center of Azerbaijan

In his speech the head of the HRCA stated that the problem of the political prisoners is not only juridical issue. The solution of this issue needs the political will. This will has been seen in the process of creation of the mixed Working Group on the political prisoners, but recently this group’s work is unstable.

Eldar Zeynalov also noted that the so-called “problem of 15 years”, emerged after replacement of the capital punishment by the life imprisonment, is applied to the most of the political prisoners. In particular, this is applied to Elchin Amiraslanov, Safa Poladov, Arif Kazimov – life prisoners, generally accepted as “political prisoners” by the decision of the experts of the Council of Europe.

72 prisoners, 19 of which were arrested in the years 2005-2007, are included to the list of FHROA. Besides the Federation takes up the issues of “10 candidates for political prisoners”, whose trials are not finished yet, and the issues of 10 “former political prisoners”, who were excluded from the list after the court expelled the “political” clauses from the indictment.