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If justice has any meaning in Azerbaijan, this verdict will be overturned on appeal and Hilal Mammadov, the editor-in-chief of Tolishi Sado will be released, the statement of the international organization Reporters Without Borders reads.

Reporters Without Borders condemns yesterday’s decision by Azerbaijan’s supreme court to confirm well-known newspaper “Tolishi Sado” (Voice of Tolishi) editor Hilal Mammadov’s five-year jail sentence on trumped-up charges.

Mammadov’s lawyer had asked the Supreme Court to free him at once and quash his September 2013 conviction. He stated that he was the victim of many procedural violations and that the prosecution fabricated the evidence against him. His lawyer said he would now appeal to the European Court of Human Rights, the article reads.

The Committee for the Defence of Hilal Mammadov’s rights petitioned the Supreme Court at the start of June, stressing the dangers that continued detention poses to Mammadov’s health. He has respiratory and immunological problems and is very exposed to the possibility of infection. The level of hygiene and medical attention in Azerbaijan’s prisons is poor, the article reads.

Everything points to a political trial carried out in a spirit of vengeance against a journalist critical of the Azerbaijani government. If justice has any meaning in Azerbaijan, this verdict will be overturned on appeal and Mammadov will be released, the statement reads.

Many international observers attended the final hearing. They included representatives of the European Union, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and the US, German, French and Norwegian embassies.

Note that the editor-in-chief of the only Talysh newspaper in Azerbaijan Tolishi-Sado Hilal Mammadov was arrested by Azerbaijani police on June 21, 2012. He was accused of drug possession, while later the Ministry of National Security of Azerbaijan accused him of state treason and espionage. On September 27 2013 Azerbaijani court found him guilty on all charges and sentenced him to 5 years imprisonment. Among other things, Mammadov is famous for his video placed on the internet “Who the hell are you? “. In summer of 2012 in front of the Azerbaijani embassy to Moscow 3 protest actions took place demanding to stop ethnocide and release Mammadov.

Note that the former editor- in- chief of Tolshi sado newspaper professor Novruzali Mammadov was arrested by Azerbaijani Special Forces in 2008. He as well was accused of espionage and in summer 2009 died in the Azerbaijani prison: he was denied a medical care, as Reporters without Borders emphasize. Two sons of Mammadov who had been subject to Azerbaijani government pressure also died: one of them got into a car accident, while the second was regularly beaten during his visits to his father.

The Talyshs are the indigenous people of the region. They are settled mainly in the southern regions of Azerbaijan and northern provinces of Iran. In Azerbaijan the Talysh are harassed because of their ethnicity. Their number in Azerbaijan, according to official data, reaches up to 112 thousand, however the Talysh believe that the official data is not valid and that their number is much higher.