[ad_1]
A Baku court docket on Tuesday rejected an Azerbaijani human rights activist’s attraction to serve out his pre-trial detention at house.
Bakhtiyar Hajiyev, a outstanding human rights defender, was arrested on December 9 and is being detained for 50 days till he faces trial on fees of “hooliganism” and “disrespect for court docket.”
Hajiyev has denied the allegations, saying he’s being persecuted for his political actions, together with criticism of the federal government in worldwide boards. His arrest follows his participation in a civil society meeting in Prague earlier this month, the place his mistreatment by Azerbaijani authorities was mentioned publicly.
Activist criticized therapy
In September, he traveled to Warsaw to attend a convention of the Group for Safety and Cooperation in Europe, the place he publicly criticized the human rights state of affairs in Azerbaijan.
In response to Hajiyev’s lawyer, Shahla Humbatova, the court docket didn’t take her consumer’s deteriorating well being into consideration when contemplating his attraction for home arrest. Hajiyev is on starvation strike, which, she added, he is dealing with psychological strain to finish.
“Bakhtiyar Hajiyev himself spoke in court docket, saying that his well being isn’t good, it’s deteriorating as a result of starvation strike,” Humbatova informed journalists gathered in entrance of the court docket. “He additionally stated that there was some psychological strain on him within the detention middle. The court docket didn’t take into account any of this.”
Jail officers, nonetheless, informed VOA that Hajiyev is not on starvation strike.
“He was on starvation strike for sooner or later, he then ended it on December 18. There isn’t a moral-psychological torture in opposition to Bakhtiyar Hajiyev,” stated Mehman Sadigov, head of the Public Relations Division of the Penitentiary Service.
Worldwide requires launch
Hajiyev, a 2009 graduate of Harvard’s Kennedy Faculty of Authorities, was beforehand arrested and sentenced to 2 years of jail in 2011 for evading the nation’s necessary navy service, which supporters thought-about retaliation for his political actions. He was launched early in 2012, simply days earlier than then-U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s go to to Azerbaijan.
State Division spokesperson Vedant Patel on December 9 echoed worldwide requires Hajiyev’s launch.
“We’re deeply troubled by the arrest and detention of Mr. Hajiyev on the eve of Human Rights Day, and we urge the authorities to launch him expeditiously,” Patel stated at his December 9 briefing. “The U.S. stays strongly dedicated to advancing respect for human rights and elementary freedoms, and we once more urge the federal government to respect their residents’ rights, together with their proper to specific their views peacefully.”
“The E.U. calls on Azerbaijani authorities to make sure a clear and neutral investigation of his case,” EU international affairs spokesperson Peter Stano wrote on Twitter.
Marc Behrendt, director for Europe and Eurasia packages at Washington-based Freedom Home, referred to as Hajiyev’s pretrial detention unjustified.
“That is much like conditions which were going down for a very long time in Azerbaijan, the place authorities critics, the place the journalists or politicians … discover themselves unfairly prosecuted by the federal government,” Behrendt informed VOA. “I do not suppose that there is any actual motive to imagine that he is responsible of any of those allegations.”
Some human rights defenders in Azerbaijan complain about lack of response from the worldwide neighborhood.
“This man has been on starvation strike for six days. Evidently Ilham Aliyev and Vilayat Eyvazov [Minister of Internal Affairs] need Bakhtiyar to die right here,” stated Rufat Safarov, co-founder of Protection Line human rights group whereas addressing reporters exterior of the court docket on Tuesday.
“I do not perceive. Will the embassies react after Bakhtiyar’s loss of life? We’ve got not seen any severe worldwide response to his arrest for six days. We’re left helpless. They’re destroying us one after the other.”
Azerbaijan is amongst 56 nations included in Freedom Home’s “Freedom within the World” report within the “non-free” class. Azerbaijan, together with 15 different nations, had the worst rating within the class of political rights and civil liberties.
This story originated in VOA’s Azeri Service
[ad_2]
Source link
