Leila Yunus: 26 new political prisoners appeared in Azerbaijan in 2011

In 2011, political repressions intensified in Azerbaijan, and the sharpest jump in the number of political prisoners over the last decade has been marked. This was reported by Leila Yunus, Director of the Institute for Peace and Democracy (IPD), at the press conference dedicated to the International Human Rights Day celebrated on December 10. At the same time, the Azerbaijani authorities deny existence of political prisoners in the country.

Total number of political prisoners in Azerbaijan exceeds 70 persons, Leila Yunus asserts

"26 new political prisoners were convicted this year, and their total number exceeds 70 persons," reported Leila Yunus at the press conference held on December 8 in Baku, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

The human rights defender reminded the audience that such a sharp jump in number of political prisoners for the year was marked only in 2003, when, according to her, 100 persons were detained after the presidential election, 80 persons were brought to the trial and 60 persons were convicted.

Leila Yunus treats 13 persons convicted after the rally of April 2, oppositional activists Bakhtiyar Gadjiev and Jabbar Savalan, human right defender Vidali Iskenderov and Shakhin Gasanli, activist of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), as new political prisoners. All 17 persons are treated by the Amnesty international as prisoners of conscience.

Leila Yunus also treats Neimat Panakhly, the leader of the Party of National Statehood of Azerbaijan (PNSA), convicted this year, as political prisoner. Besides, according to the IPD's Director, Movsum Samedov, the leader of the Islamic Party, and five believers and activists of the Party should also be treated as political prisoners.

At the same time, Leila Yunus pointed out that among the charges filed against the convicted people were charged under Article "an attempt to seize power." According to Leila Yunus, the real reasons for the arrest of Islamists were Movsum Samedov's sharp critic of the Azerbaijani leadership's policy expressed in the beginning of the year and protests of the Islamists against the ban on hijabs in schools.

For the same reason, according to Leila Yunus, two other top-ranking religious figures of khodjatulislam - Fakhri Ilyasov and Azer Djabiev - were convicted. Officially, they were found guilty of hooliganism, and the human rights defenders treat them as political prisoners.

Apart from 26 new political prisoners, the aggregate list of the IPD includes other 25 political prisoners from the previous lists. Furthermore, the IPD treats 10 persons, who were convicted in 2007 under the so-called "case of the Said Dadashbeili's group" on charges of collaboration with the secret services of Iran and overthrow of the constitutional order, as political prisoners.

According to convicted persons' parents, who attended the press conference, the grounds for the treatment of the convicted people as political prisoners are "obvious falsification of criminal case and absurdity of accusations, their relatives believes". According to their relatives, the young men were watched by the secret services in connection with their humanitarian actions among the believers, and that actions raised a concern about the growth of popularity of the young educated people in the religious environment.

The IPD's list of political prisoners also includes youth activist Ruslan Bashirli (convicted on charges of a coup d'etat attempt), Nizami Shakhmuradov, ex-commander of OPON (riot police) (charged of the events of 1995, surrendered in 2007), Mekhman Mamedov (driver of Mamed Guliev, ex-Prosecutor of Baku, "the case of a coup d'etat", 2000), ex-Ministers Farkhad Aliev and Ali Insanov and a number of persons arrested on charges of a coup d'etat in 2005 and later convicted for economic crimes.

Leila Yunus, Director of the IPD, has expressed her hope that Christoph Strasser, PACE's Rapporteur on political prisoners in Azerbaijan, will be able to arrive in the country in January 2012, and his mission will help solve the problem of political prisoners in Azerbaijan.

MGHROA: at present, total number of political prisoners in Azerbaijan reaches 27 persons

Monitoring Group of Human Rights Organizations of Azerbaijan (MGHROA) also believes that new political prisoners were convicted in the country this year.

Novella Djafaroglu, the member of the MGHROA, the head of the Society for Women's Rights Protection, has emphasized that as a result of longstanding efforts of human rights defenders and cooperation within the working group joint with the government, due to presidential decrees of pardon, amnesty acts and releases on conditional early relief (CER), it became possible to reduce the number of political prisoners from 716 in 2001 to 11 in early 2011.

However, according to the MGHROA, 16 new political prisoners were convicted this year, and their total number reached 27.

At the same time, Novella Djafaroglu has expressed her hope that a new decree of pardon will be issued before the end of the year, and the problem of political prisoners will be solved.

Azerbaijani authorities deny existence of political prisoners in country

In late November, Elmira Suleimanova, the Ombudsman of Azerbaijan, also appealed to the Azerbaijani President asking to sign a decree on pardon dedicated to the International Human Rights Day (December 10) or the Day of World Solidarity of Azerbaijanis (December 31).

In his turn, on December 8 Ali Gasanov, Chief the Social and Political Division of the Presidential Administration, reported that the Commission on Presidential Pardon was preparing the list of prisoners. At the same time, Ali Gasanov denied existence of political prisoners in the country.