Azerbaijani human rights defender Intigam Aliyev sentenced to 7.5 years imprisonment
Azerbaijani human rights defender, leader of the Legal Education Society, Intigam Aliyev, was sentenced to 7 years and 6 months imprisonment. Aliyev was charged under Articles 213.1 (tax evasion), 308.2 (abuse of power with grave consequences), 192.2 (illegal entrepreneurship) and 179.3.2 (embezzlement) of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan. Farid Nagiyev, the prosecutor, offered to condemn Aliyev to 10 years imprisonment in penal colony, Azerbaijani news outlet Haqqin.az reports.
The Azerbaijani service of RFE/RL adds that in his final word Aliyev declared about the complete falsification and the political motives of his persecution.
“This process that has been on for already about 4 months once again proved that it is not based on law, but rather on other norms and rules. I was deprived of all the means and arguments of defense. And the investigating authorities put into use all the loathsome methods to prove my guilt. That once again proved that my arrest and the trial in itself are politically motivated. I am arrested for my lawyer activity. I have introduced more than 200 cases to the European Court of Human Rights and more than 40 of them are connected with the parliamentary elections,” he said.
According to Aliyev, the government makes a lot of efforts not to let these cases reach the European Court and be resolved there. The European court has issued a number of recommendations for the normalization of the situation concerning the elections in Azerbaijan. Naturally, this outrages the Azerbaijani leadership.
“One of the reasons of my arrest is my civil activity, too. I have made a lot of speeches in various European and international organizations. In my speeches, I have stated that the human rights situation in Azerbaijan has aggravated and the freedom of the society has got less. After PACE summer session and the President Ilham Aliyev’s statement there, a campaign against the civil society was initiated in Azerbaijan,” Aliyev said.
The human rights defender also noted that by then, first in the speech of the head of the administration of the president, the second influential person of Azerbaijan, Ramiz Mehdiyev, and then in all of the official and governmental media, the tags “fifth column” and “forces working for the West” started to be used.
“If the West and Europe are Azerbaijan’s enemies, then why is the country remaining a member of the CoE, OSCE and other international agencies and a participant of conventions? Why are enormous sums of money from the state budget spent on renovation of museums and historical monuments in Europe, on founding non-historic monuments, hosting various song contests and sports competitions under ‘European flags’? Why do we sell oil and gas to Europe? Why is the significant part of the currency reserves of the country kept in European banks? How does this happen: when Europe and the West support the falsified elections, then they are our friends, still, when they are not so mild in their reaction to the human rights violations and political arrests, they turn into enemies?” Intigam Aliyev wonders.
According to him, one can say with certainty by now that there is no independent civil society remaining in the country: it has been destroyed. There are separate dissidents continuing the struggle despite the threat of being arrested any moment.
“The arrests can take away our freedom, yet not the wish to be free. Our arrest is the continuation of our struggle,” Intigam Aliyev highlighted.
In conclusion, Aliyev thanked his fellows, the independent press and the international organizations for support and highlighted his lawyers’ selflessness. He also greeted all of his colleagues-of-arrest, Tofig Yagublu, Ilgar Mammadov, Leyla Yunus, Seymur Hazi, Khadija Ilmayil, Ilkin Rustamzade, Rashadat Akhundov and others.
On August 8, 2014 the head of the Legal Education Society, Intigam Aliyev, was arrested on charges of tax evasion, abuse of power and illegal entrepreneurship. International human rights organization Amnesty International stated that Aliyev was arrested on trumped-up charges and persecuted for his human rights activities.
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