The
Committee to Protect Journalists condemns today's prison sentences given to two
video bloggers detained in July on fabricated charges of hooliganism and
inflicting minor bodily harm.
Judge Araz Huseynov with the Sabail District Court in Baku handed
Emin Milli who runs an online video blog known as ANTV, a two and a half
year jail term, and Adnan Hajizade, a video blogger and coordinator of
the Azerbaijani youth movement Ol!, a two-year prison sentence for
allegedly harming two men in a restaurant, according to international
press reports.
Milli and Hajizade had posted political and socially satirical video
sketches that criticized government policies and social issues in the
weeks prior to their initial arrest in July. They had interviewed local
residents and posted their opinions online, sharing them through
networking sites such as YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. Among the
issues discussed on their blogs were education, corruption, and the poor
infrastructure in Azerbaijan.
Baku police detained Milli and Hajizade on July 8, after the bloggers
reported that they had been physically attacked at a local restaurant.
Milli and Hajizade were debating politics with friends when two unknown
men interrupted their conversation and started a brawl, they said. When
the bloggers went to report the incident, they were arrested for
hooliganism; it turned out, the men who had attacked them had told
the police that they had been the victims. The bloggers had been in
custody since their initial detention. A second charge, inflicting
minor bodily harm, was added later on.
Both domestic and international rights groups have condemned the
arrest of Milli and Hajizade as staged by authorities in retaliation for
their blogs' critical content. In a number of entries, the two
interviewed local residents and filmed street gatherings in protest of
official policies. According to multiple sources, a satirical video the
bloggers produced and posted on YouTube in late June was the main reason
for their incarceration. The video criticized Azerbaijan's alleged
import of donkeys from abroad at excessively high prices. The video
sketch depicts a pseudo press conference, at which Hajizade, wearing a
donkey suit, talks to a group of Azerbaijani journalists; Milli
reportedly filmed.
We call on Azerbaijani authorities to scrap these fictitious
charges against Emin Milli and Adnan Hajizade and release them, CPJ
Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Nina Ognianova said.
Police entrapment such as provoking a fight has become a tool for
silencing critical journalists and writers in Azerbaijan.
Commenting on the guilty verdict today, Judge Araz Huseynov said it
was based on police reports and the alleged injuries of the two
plaintiffs, Emin Huseynov, the director of the Baku-based Institute for
Reporters' Freedom and Safety, whose representatives were monitoring the
trial, told CPJ. Huseynov added that the judge had ignored witness
testimony by restaurant patrons who said they saw the two men attack the
bloggers and not vice versa.
Update:
Acquitted
25th August 2010. Based on
article
from advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org
ARTICLE 19 is deeply concerned by the Azerbaijani Supreme Court's
decision to uphold rulings in the case of bloggers Emin Milli and Adnan
Hajizade. ARTICLE 19 believes that Milli and Hajizade, who are
imprisoned on charges of hooliganism, were targeted for expressing
opinions critical of the Azerbaijani authorities.
On 19 August, the Azerbaijani Supreme Court considered the case of
imprisoned bloggers and youth activists Emin Milli and Adnan Hajizade.
In its decision, the Court upheld the lower courts' rulings, which
convicted Milli and Hajizade of hooliganism and sentenced them to two
and a half years and two years of imprisonment respectively.
Milli and Hajizade's lawyers plan to apply to the European Court of
Human Rights now that the domestic appeals process has been exhausted.
The OSCE Representative for Freedom of the Media and the Council of
Europe High Commissioner for Human Rights have both expressed concern
regarding Milli and Hajizade's imprisonment, noting that the move seemed
to be an attempt by the Azerbaijani authorities to silence critical
voices.
