On Monday the court found the Garabagh Liberation Organization (GLO) chairman Akif Naghi and five members of the organization guilty of violating public order and resisting police. The six GLO activists were arrested on June 22 while protesting against the participation of Armenian officers in a NATO conference held in Baku on June 21-23, Assa-Irada reported. (03-SEP-04)
Court trial
The GLO chairman was sentenced to 5 years, while his deputy, Garabagh war handicapped Firudin Mammadov, to 3 years, and four other members of the organization to 4 years in prison.
While pronouncing the sentence, the Nasimi district judge said that a group of GLO members, on an instruction of chairman Akif Naghi, broke into Europe hotel conference hall, disturbing the NATO conference underway, breaking the door and several bottles with flammable liquid for intimidation purposes. GLO members present at the trial said the bottles contained nothing but sparkling water.
The judge also said that the rest of the protesters, “armed with knives”, took to the streets and started “beating and injuring law-enforcement officers”. He added that the protesters resisted police who were trying to prevent them from violating public disorder in front of the Europe Hotel on the Tbilisi Avenue.
Forced out
The sentence indicated that the estimated damage inflicted by the protesters to the hotel made up 1,700,000 manats ($340). The GLO activists and family members of those convicted spoke out against the sentence and tried to protest in court, but were forced out of the courtroom. The organization´s members standing outside the court building were dispersed as well.
Also present at the trial were leaders and representatives of other political parties, including the Popular Front Party (PFPA) Ali Karimli, parliament member Galamhuseyn Aliyev, Party of National Independence (PNIA) chairman Etibar Mammadov, deputy chairman of the Azerbaijan Liberal Party Avaz Temirkhan, and representatives of rights groups.
“Utter injustice”
After the trial, politicians and human rights activists expressed their indignation with the verdict. PFPA chairman Ali Karimli regarded the sentence as “utter injustice” and stated the readiness of his party to struggle for a fair ruling by all democratic means.
“The trial of Garabagh Liberation Organization members has shown once again the absence of independent courts in Azerbaijan. Judges act as government officials and pronounce political orders as court sentences”, PNIA chairman Etibar Mammadov said.
Verdict sparks public outcry
Chairman of Adalat party Ilyas Ismaylov also condemned the sentence.
“The GLO members were not to be arrested, as their actions had no criminal motive. I hope for their release soon”, he said.
Chairperson of the Society for Women´s Rights Novella Jafaroglu said she simply does not understand the sentence, as the defendants were not struggling for power but for the integrity of their home country. “They must be released and this should be demanded by the entire nation”, Jafaroglu said.
Head of the Human Rights Bureau Saida Gojamanli said “the sentence was pronounced not to those people but to Garabagh, as this is a license for occupation of Azerbaijan´s lands”.
Human rights activist Leyla Yunus also criticized the ruling. “There is no logic behind sentencing GLO members to such long prison terms for a peaceful protest action, and nurturing patriotism in this case is out of the question”. Yunus said that the President of Azerbaijan should express his attitude toward those who shed their blood for Garabagh. “Pardons are expected in September, and including those convicted today into the amnesty list is a prerogative of the President”, she said.
Defense lawyer Elchin Gambarov told journalists that he intends to forward the case to the Court of Appeals. Deputy GLO chairman Shamil Mehdi, in turn, said the organization will continue struggling for the release of its members. Commenting on the court sentence, director of the National Conservatory Siyavush Karimli said: “We have a president, courts, laws, and if a certain sentence is pronounced to a criminal, there is a reason for this. In any case, the Garabagh conflict is addressed by the government and I believe that it has a firm and far-sighted vision”.
Renowned sculptor and artist Mir Teymur termed the sentence as a “negative development”. “I agree that the protest could have been manifested differently. But considering the current state of affairs, the complicated nature of the Garabagh problem, and the fact that these people put their lives on the line and saw injustice on part of many countries with regard to the Garabagh problem, I believe the ruling was unfair. The only sentence they could have received was violation of public order”.
During the investigation and the trial, well-known public figures, including the human rights Ombudsman Elmira Suleymanova and Caucasus clerical leader Sheikhulislam Allahshukur Pashazada, spoke out in favor of releasing the GLO members. However, the court apparently ignored the fact that the GLO members were simply expressing their protest against the visit to Baku by military officers of a country that is occupying Azerbaijan´s territories. The GLO members´ position on the issue was quite natural.
Ordered arrests
The GLO Supreme and Elders Councils issued a joint statement on Tuesday saying that the imprisonment sentence of its activists was unlawful and ordered politically. “The arrested GLO members must be immediately released, otherwise, the organization will launch protest actions in Baku and the country´s regions,” the statement says.
