A prominent anti-corruption blogger Mehman Huseynov, imprisoned since March 2017 faces new charges, solely due to his human rights work, Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety (IRFS) said today. IRFS resolutely condemns the Azerbaijani authorities for yet another attack on Mehman Huseynov and in fact, the IRFS, which has been headed by Huseynov since 2016, and calls for Huseynov’s immediate and unconditional release.
IRFS is shocked by the brazen deceitful frame-up of Mehman Huseynov carried out by the staff of the Penitentiary Service of the Ministry of Justice of Azerbaijan in an apparent effort to prolong his illegal and politically motivated imprisonment. As such, on 26 December, a new trumped-up accusation of “resisting a representative of the authorities with the use of violence dangerous to his health and life” was brought against Mehman Huseynov, for which he could be sentenced to an additional seven years in jail while still serving the remaining of his prior politically motivated two-year prison sentence.
IRFS believes that the initiation of a new criminal case while there are only two months left of Mehman Huseynov’s sentence, is nothing more than a revenge plot of the authorities, an attempt to silence IRFS and stop Mehman and his colleagues at IRFS from further exposing corrupt high-ranking officials and human rights abusers.
Despite the new registered criminal case opened against Mehman Huseynov, lawyers have not been allowed to visit him for the second consecutive day. Using the right to a short call, earlier today /27 December), Mehman Huseynov informed his family members that he was put in solitary confinement and that, in protest to the new pressure from the authorities, he began an action of indefinite hunger strike. Lawyer Shakhla Humbatova has repeatedly tried to secure a meeting with Mehman today (27 December), but was denied access, illegally motivating the refusal by Mehman Huseynov’s current placement in solitary confinement-
In the light of the current situation, the IRFS is seriously concerned about the safety of the imprisoned journalist and believes that the ruling power impersonated by Ilham and Mehriban Aliyev is personally responsible for the fate of Mehman Huseynov because it is their animosity towards him that represents a serious threat to his life.
IRFS is confident that the ruling couple of the country, Ilham and Mehriban Aliyev, are behind the initiation of the new criminal case, who, in violation of all conceivable norms of democracy and government accountability towards the people are sharing the presidency and vice president of Azerbaijan. The public criticism by Mehman Huseynov of Mehriban Aliyeva’s appointment to the post of first vice-president in February 2017 by her husband, President Ilham Aliyev, was the initial cause of the first criminal charge against him and his subsequent arrest on 3 March 2017 followed by the two-year prison sentence.
“The new charges against Mehman Huseynov stem from the criminal and corrupt nature of the ruling regime that consolidates their power each day as the Aliyevs continue enjoying impunity for corruption and human rights violations ,” said Emin Huseynov, human rights activist living in exile abroad, IRFS Executive Director and Mehman Huseynov’s brother. “The current regime is essentially an organized criminal gang that steals billions of dollars from its own people every year and tries to silence its critics at any cost. The new false charges against Mehman Huseynov are being put forward by the criminal power, which is, in fact, guilty of the murder of the journalist’s mother, Frangiz Huseynova, who died in hospital under very strange and tragic circumstances on 6 August 2018. Unfortunately, the law enforcement agencies of Azerbaijan and the judicial system that are supposed to investigate the politically motivated and deliberate murder of the well-known critic’s mother, serve as executioners and inquisitors for the authorities. Threats of a new politically fabricated persecution against Mehman were made for the first time after he publicly accused the regime of causing the death of his mother and demanded the start of a comprehensive criminal investigation. President Ilham Aliyev’s emissaries who visited Mehman in prison in August, September, October and November of this year threatened him with a new fabricated criminal case that would keep him in prison for another couple of years if he does not reconsider and continues criticizing the political leadership of the country. The refusal of Mehman Huseynov to stop his journalistic and human rights activities caused new false accusations against him. The flagrant provocation carried out during Christmas and New Year holidays to avoid a storm of international criticism is a vile and cowardly trick inherent to the Azerbaijani authorities. Despite the holidays, international organizations and governments of democratic countries should promptly condemn another repressive act and call for the immediate and unconditional release of Mehman Huseynov.
IRFS calls on the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, the President and Secretary General of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, as well as the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, to condemn the blatant attempt at a reprisal against Mehman Huseynov and stand up for the well-known Azerbaijani journalist and human rights activist involved in exposing corrupt officials during the investigation of the scandals implicating European politicians being bribed by the Azerbaijani authorities.
IRFS urges the OSCE Secretary General, the President and Secretary General of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and the Director of the ODIHR OSCE, as well as the OSCE Special Representative on Freedom of the Media, to condemn the pressure against a well-known journalist and demand that the authorities immediately release him.
IRFS calls on the UNESCO Director-General to take under personal control the alarming safety situation of Mehman Huseynov and start the procedure of depriving the First Lady and First Vice President of AzerbaijanMehriban Aliyeva of the Goodwill Ambassador status, who is, in fact, one of the direct initiators of the persecution of Mehman Huseynov.
IRFS also calls on the European Commission and the European Parliament to condemn the brazen trick of the Azerbaijani authorities in relation to the well-known critic and suspend all negotiations on the preparation of the agreement on comprehensive strategic cooperation between Azerbaijan and the EU.
The IRFS urges the US, Canada and the countries, members of the European Union to apply legal sanctions mechanisms according to the Global Magnitsky Act and similar against President and Vice President of Azerbaijan Ilham and Mehriban Aliyev and their daughters Leyla and Arzu Aliyev who stand together with their parents at the top of the criminal and corrupt pyramid of power.
IRFS also calls on the law enforcement agencies of the USA, UK, Denmark, Estonia and other countries to investigate the dirty money laundering and corruption schemes of the ruling elite of Azerbaijan, to investigate and issue international arrest warrants for the representatives suspected of committing serious financial crimes and to start arresting and freezing foreign assets criminally acquired by the Aliyev clan.