My personal blog, my thoughts.
Azerbaijan’s arrest of researcher and writer Bahruz Samadov has led to widespread outcry, and speculation about the implications for the prospect of peace or further war with Armenia.
Read more “When advocating for peace becomes treason — the arrest of Bahruz Samadov”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan (MFA) has contested the recent allegations made by the Committee against Torture (CPT) of the Council of Europe, calling them “groundless and unfair.”
Read more “Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry disputes Council of Europe torture allegations”
Radio Azadliq, RFE/RL’s Azerbaijani service, is accused of mismanagement and bias after string of sackings
Read more “Former Radio Free Europe staff demand probe over ‘pro-Azerbaijan content’”
The Lachin Corridor, the road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia, has been blocked for over 48 hours, cutting off the region’s imports of food and medical supplies. Since Tuesday evening, the gas supply to the region has also been disconnected.
Read more “Nagorno-Karabakh ‘on the verge of humanitarian crisis’”
France intends to open the eyes of the world community to the true nature of the Azerbaijani regime. Thus, the Azerbaijani dissident, blogger and activist Mirzali Mahammad said on his Facebook page that until October 27, when the Nantes-Karabakh football match is scheduled, posters and billboards will be placed in the city to convey the truth about terrorist acts committed by the Azerbaijani authorities in different cities of France.
Read more “Nantes will host a campaign to notify about the terrorist acts of Azerbaijan in France”
Member of the board of the youth organization of the Musavat Party, Aziz Mamiyev, was detained on July 20 at a protest rally in Baku demanding the opening of the country’s land borders.
Read more “Musavat party member Aziz Mamiyev arrested for 30 days”
In Azerbaijan, human rights defenders and NGOs have less and less space for activity. In recent years, amendments to laws have been adopted that impose restrictions on the work of human rights defenders and strict state control over it. The arrests of the most famous human rights defenders and the subsequent trials that ended in prison terms show that Azerbaijan is confidently moving towards authoritarianism, apparently taking over from Russia its neglect of civil society.
Read more “Freedom of Speech and Human Rights in Azerbaijan”
An Azerbaijani media-rights group has added its name to the list of organizations urging the government to release a hunger-striking blogger who was targeted with a new charge just weeks before his expected release from prison.
Members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Human Rights Watch (HRW), and other watchdog groups, and The Washington Post’s editorial board have also demanded that 26-year-old Mehman Huseynov be freed.
Read more “Demands Mount For Hunger-Striking Azerbaijani Blogger’s Release Amid New Charges”
A Baku district court issued an arrest warrant against Netherlands-based Azerbaijani video blogger and social media activist Ordukhan Teymurkhan, Radio Liberty reported last Friday relying on a source from the Prosecutor’s Office.
Teymurkhan is charged under three articles of the criminal code relating to calls for terrorism, mass riots and attacks against the state, the sentence for which is up to eight years in prison.
Read more “Criminal case launched against exiled blogger Ordukhan Teymurkhan”
Mustafa Hajibeyli, editor-in-chief of the bastainfo.com website, was summoned to the Baku prosecutor”s office as a witness in connection with a lawsuit. However, today he was transferred to the status of the accused. He is charged under the following Articles of the Criminal Code: 281.2 (appeals against the state), 309.2 (abuse of office) and 313 (official forgery).
“According to the accusation, I allegedly made anti-state appeals, deliberately misleading the public and spreading false information,” said Hajibeyli in an interview with Turan.