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Use of unregistered grants has been at the core of the charges against human rights lawyer Intigam Aliyev. In court the defence provided rebuttal of prosecutors’ version.

In a joint statement to the United Nations Human Rights Council, leading international human rights organisations call upon Azerbaijan “to put an end to the systematic punishment of leaders of civil society, and to immediately and unconditionally release all human rights defenders, journalists and activists held in custody.”

In its statement on the situation of human rights defenders on 10 March 2015 at the Human Rights Council, the Human Rights House Foundation highlighted the worrying situations in Azerbaijan, Russia and Armenia.

”It became evident that the victims in Rasul Jafarov’s case were either unaware of why they were victims or directly stated that the accused person never did them any harm”. The past months international observers have been attending the trial of Azerbaijani human rights activist, Rasul Jafarov, in Baku Court on Grave Crimes.

Women human rights defenders challenge gender inequality and stereotypes, advance sexual and reproductive rights, and promote women’s empowerment and participation in society. They often challenge religious and cultural norms and patriarchal attitudes that subordinate, stigmatize or restrict women.

On Tuesday, 17 February, the Russian lawyer Illarion Vasiliev observed the hearing of the human rights lawyer Intigam Aliyev at the Court of Grave Crimes in Baku, Azerbaijan. The testimony illustrates what a courtroom in Azerbaijan looks like and how justice is conducted against one of the leaders of the Azerbaijani civil society, arrested in August 2014 in the midst of an unprecedented repression against civil society.

Since August 2014, the human rights defender Emin Huseynov has been forced into hiding in Azerbaijan to ensure his protection from a wave of repression in the country. Only after he went into hiding the authorities officially charged him.

On February 3, substantial hearing into the criminal case against famous Azerbaijan human rights defender Intigam Aliyev started with an unexpected decision of the court collegium at the Baku Court on Grave Crimes. Straight after the trial started, the judge ordered to release the human rights defender from the cage without any solicitations from the parties. A rusty lock clanged and Intigam Aliyev was allowed to sit next to his lawyers in the courtroom. The audience greeted the political prisoner with applauses.

Side-event at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on media freedom and the extended crackdown on journalists in Azerbaijan