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The list of political prisoners in Azerbaijan continues to grow, reads the article of journalist Afgan Mukhtarly published on the website of the British Institute of War and Peace Reporting (IWPR).

As the article reads that the Nasiminski court ruled that Rasul Jafarov, director of the Human Rights Club, should be held in detention pending trial, for three months. Prosecutors filed charges against the human rights defender under three articles of the Criminal Code (192, 213 and 308): tax evasion, illegal business and malpractice, the author writes.

Jafarov’s lawyer, Khalid Bagarov, said the allegations were absurd and added that on July 31, Jafarov handed financial documents to investigators, and was arrested and charged two days later. It’s literally impossible to study all those documents in two days, the article reads.

On August 4, Amnesty International recognized Jafarov as a prisoner of conscience. “Independent human rights and pro-democracy organizations have long faced harassment and restrictions in Azerbaijan. The refusal to register NGOs leaves their leaders with no choice but to operate outside the strict legal framework, which is later used by the authorities as a pretext for their criminal prosecution. Rasul Jafarov was the fifth activist, arrested on similar charges in the past four months,” the statement reads.

The article also notes that Štefan Füle, the EU’s Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy and Catherine Ashton, the EU High Representative for External Affairs issued a joint statement expressing dismay at Jafarov’s arrest.

The article notes that the arrest of Mr Jafarov, coming so soon after the arrest last week of Dr Leyla Yunus, adds to the impression that the authorities are systematically restricting the space for public discourse and civil society in Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijani human rights activist Intiqam Aliyev was charged with tax evasion, abuse of office and illegal entrepreneurship, allegations he denied and said his arrest was politically motivated, reads the article.

As the article notes other recent arrests have included blogger and social media activist Faraj Karimov, detained on charges of possession of drugs. He faces a five to 12 year sentence. His brother Siraj had previously been arrested on the same charges. The government is trying to destroy all the NGOs and public figures who do not support its policy.

The Polish Foreign Ministry expresses concern over the arrests of the civil society activists in Azerbaijan who have been detained for political reasons, the Azerbaijani news agency "Turan" reports.

"The statement reads that the arrests and harassment of human rights defender and lawyer Intiqam Aliyev, civil society activists Leyla and Arif Yunus, Rasul Jafarov, journalist Rauf Mirkadirov, as well as other activists and members of their families, are concerning. These unfounded accusations and arrests are politically motivated," the statement reads.

In this regard, the Polish Foreign Ministry calls on the Azerbaijani authorities to put an end to the repressions, reminding that these measures are dangerous for stability, as well as calls for respect for the commitments of Azerbaijan to the Council of Europe, the OSCE and the UN.