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US Representative Ed Royce, a Republican who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, urged Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev to release imprisoned investigative reporter Khadija Ismayilova from prison, RFE/RL reports.

In a letter to Aliyev, the US lawmaker said that journalists’ continued detention on dubious charges will harm relations between official Baku and Washington. He added that Azerbaijan's continued closure of RFE/RL's Baku bureau is damaging bilateral relations, as well.

The Azerbaijani service of RFE/RL reports that the police detained Fizuli Huseynov, a member of Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), in Absheron district, Azerbaijan, on 27 January. Huseynov’s family say he was taken to Absheron district court and sentenced to administrative arrest of 30 days for “obstructing the police.” However, Huseynov is alleged to be arrested for his activity in the social media. The website notes arrests of over 10 political activists and bloggers following protests held in the regions of the country in early January.

The website Caucasian Knot reports that on February 3, Babak district court of Nakhijevan Autonomous Republic brought in a verdict against another member of the party, Zeynal Bagirzade. He was sentenced to 8 year’s imprisonment on charges of “obstructing a representative of authorities.” Friends and party-members say the activist’s persecution was politically motivated.

The website writes that Bagirzade’s family had earlier reported that on 14 November 2015, representatives of State Social Protection Fund (SSPF) went to Bagirzade’s home in the village Nehram and demanded payment for obligatory social insurance. Bagirzade was not at home, and when he went to the SSPF, the employees of the office beat him, according to his relatives. The activist was detained after he went to the Prosecutor’s Office on 16 November 2015 to file a complaint against the staffers of the SSPF.

“He was given 4 years under the article 315.2. Another 4 years was added from the reaming part of an unserved conditional punishment Zeynal had been sentenced to in 2012. Back then, Zeynal was accused of forging a certificate of veteran of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, even though he had participated in the liquidation of the accident in reality. The accusation was political. Zeynal is persecuted for his opposition views, inexorability and implacability to injustice and arbitrariness. He was handed down 8 years in prison for nothing,” said Bagirzade’s brother Yashar Babirsoy who heads the PFPA Nakhijevan Autonomous Republic office.

He said they will appeal against the verdict despite the lack of independent lawyers in Nakhijevan. He also spoke about their intention to apply to the European Court of Human Rights in case the Supreme Court of Azerbaijan fails to cancel the unfair verdict.

Gezal Bayramli, the deputy chair of the PFPA, also condemned Bagirzade’s verdict and said his persecution is a political order. “His protests against the officials’ arbitrariness and protection of the rights of simple people made him especially distinguished against the backdrop of an absolute political standstill in the NAR. He has been persecuted in the past as well. The verdict is politically motivated and a very severe one,” Bayramli said.

For his part, Khakimeldostu Mehdiyev, a Nakhijevani journalist and rights defender, called Zeynal Bagirzade one of the most prominent representatives of the democratic movement in Nakhijevan and Azerbaijan. He said that among a total political standstill in the NAR, Zeynal Bagirzade stood out not only with his vigorous opposition activities, but also for his human rights defence. 

“In particular, he actively demanded a solution to the water supply issue of the village Nehram, so that the residents could irrigate sowing lands. Then he was arrested and imprisoned on trumped up charges. Later, the prison punishment was replaced with a conditional term. Now, Zeynal is again arrested on an absurd accusation,” Mehdiyev said.  

According to the Caucasian Knot, in December 2015, Zeynal Bagirzade was included in a list of political prisoners compiled by civil society members of Azerbaijan and containing 93 residents of Azerbaijan.

Giorgi Gogia, the South Caucasus Director, Europe and Central Asia Division, of Human Rights Watch, an international watchdog, writes on the website of the organisation  that three years ago today, authorities arrested Ilgar Mammadov, a prominent political analyst and one of Azerbaijan’s few alternative political voices. On February 4, 2013, authorities arrested Mammadov on charges stemming from anti-government riots in Ismayilli. “I have known Ilgar for more than a decade and he is one of the most law-abiding, nonviolent people I have ever met,” Gogia points out and calls the charges against Mammadov politically motivated.

According to Gogia’s article, shortly before his arrest, Mammadov announced plans to challenge President Ilham Aliyev in the October 2013 vote, representing the opposition group REAL (Republican Alternative), which he chairs. In May 2014, the European Court of Human Rights concluded, in a strongly worded judgment, that the actual purpose of Mammadov’s detention “was to silence or punish [him] for criticizing the Government.” Citing that ruling, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe has called repeatedly for Mammadov’s release. Yet Ilgar remains in jail along with dozens of government critics, human rights defenders and journalists.

Gogia writes that the secretary general of the Council of Europe, Thorbjørn Jagland, has launched an official inquiry into Azerbaijan’s implementation of the European Convention on Human Rights.

“The Council of Europe, together with Azerbaijan’s other bilateral and multilateral partners, should make sure that Azerbaijan ends this mockery of justice without further delay,” Gogia stresses.