My personal blog, my thoughts.
The Baku Court of Appeals has dismissed the appeal of investigative journalist Afghan Mukhtarli who has been arrested on 3-month, pretrial detention, APA reports.
The journalist has been accused of illegally crossing the state border (Article 318.1 of the Azerbaijani Criminal Code), smuggling contraband (206.1) and resisting the command of a customs’ officer (315.2).
Read more “Appeal of Afgan Mukhtarli Dismissed by Baku Court”
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has begun an investigation into the case of the death of writer-publicist Rafiq Taghiyev.
The complaint was forwarded to the ECHR by the deceased’s wife, Maya Tagiyeva. The application raises questions about violations of rights under Articles 2 (the right to life, in particular, state measures to protect these rights), 10 (freedom of expression) and 13 (the right to effective remedies) of the European Convention.
Read more “ECHR Begins Investigation into Death of Writer Rafiq Tagi”
Afgan Mukhtarli’s last article was called “Politically Motivated Kidnappings in Azerbaijan”.
It was first published back in late January of this year in Azerbaijani, and discusses several recent cases of kidnappings in Azerbaijan, many of which came about as a result of the victim’s activities in human rights, government, journalism and other fields.
Given Mukhtarli’s own recent disappearance, on May 29 in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, Meydan TV offers his most recent article in English below.
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Chairman of the Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety Mehman Huseynov was kidnapped by plainclothes policemen on January 9, 2017.
“I was attacked by eight people. My head was covered with a bag, my mouth gagged with a rag. They applied a taser to my legs and shoved me into a car. I couldn’t breathe. My nose was bleeding.”
Read more “Politically Motivated Kidnappings in Azerbaijan: a Trend in the Making?”
The United States is disturbed by the reported abduction in Tbilisi, Georgia, and subsequent arrest in Azerbaijan of Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Mukhtarli on May 30.
Read more “Statement on the Abduction and Arrest of Afgan Mukhtarli”
Reporters Without Borders and the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe have issued a statement in connection with the abduction of Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Mukhtarli in Tbilisi.
“The Georgian authorities must immediately explain what happened to Afghan Mukhtarli, and provide security guarantees to other Azerbaijani dissidents based in Georgia,” the organization said.
“It does not matter who abducted Mukhtarli – the Azerbaijani operatives or the Georgian security forces: it is a very serious incident that will not be left without consequences. We demand the immediate release of Afgan Mukhtarli, who was tortured and ill-treated. The use of fabricated accusations against independent journalists is standard practice in Azerbaijan, the ruling regime once again has showed that it can create problems outside the country, and it’s time to answer for all these actions”, the statement says.
Read more “Reporters Without Borders, Council of Europe on Mukhtarli’s Arrest”
Journalist Nijat Amiraslanov has been subject to torture at Qazakh District Police Station.
His lawyer Elchin Sadiqov told Meydan TV that all of his teeth have been removed from his mouth.
Ganja Court of Appeal held a scheduled hearing yesterday on annulling Amiraslanov’s 30-day prison sentence. However, Sadiqov claims that Amiraslanov was coerced into lodging an admission of guilt.
Read more “Journalist Tortured in Detention, Teeth Forcibly Removed”
Well, when the news sites write all sorts of nonsense about the genocide of the Türkic peoples, it’s okay when some individuals work out oil-Aliev dollars. But when the Institute of History joins in, it becomes clear that the general madness in the country is beneficial to the top leadership.
Read more “Institute of History of Azerbaijan. We have many genocides!”
Since its inception, the “platform for peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan” project has been built on lies and falsifications. One pseudo-Armenian from the “platform” was already reported in due time. Let me remind you that the Ukrainian from Odessa, Eugene Rogachko, became Aragom Karapetyan, an Armenian by the Azerbaijani propaganda. Rogachko later, scolded the lies of the Baku side.
STEPANAKERT, Artsakh—The Artsakh Republic recently launched flights on the path to increase tourism between Artsakh and Armenia. The Artsakh Foreign Ministry was asked to comment on the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry’s May 25 statement criticizing the operation of the flights in Artsakh, stating that it is an “illegal economic activity.”
Azerbaijani journalist Afghan Mukhtarli has been accused of illegally crossing the state border and smuggling, his lawyer Elchin Sadiqov told Meydan TV.
His lawyer relayed further details of his kidnapping.
Read more “Mukhtarli Charged With Smuggling in Baku After Being Kidnapped in Tbilisi”