Four oppositionists convicted in Azerbaijan

Today, the Sabail District Court of Baku, presided by Judge Familya Nasibova, has convicted four opposition activists arrested for participation in the rally on April 2.

The court found them guilty under Article 233 (organization of actions aimed at disturbing public order), and sentenced Arif Gadjili, the head of the office of the "Musavat" Party, Tural Abbasly, the head of the youth organization of the same Party, Mukhammed Medjidli, a division head of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), - to 2.5 years in prison each; and Fuad Gakhramanly, the deputy chairman of the PFPA, - to two years of conditional imprisonment.

Earlier, the prosecutor Djeizun Kyazimov had asked the court to sentence Gadjili, Abbasly and Medjidli to 3 years of imprisonment each, and Gakhramanly - to 2.5 years of imprisonment.

Prior to announcement of the verdict, Medjidli was given the floor for his last plea. On September 30, at the previous session, he refused to do it because of poor health. Like other defendants, Medjidli refused to plead guilty.

"We've done nothing illegal, just expressed out viewpoints. We called for democratic reforms in the country and did it peacefully, within the law. However, the government used police violence against us and accused us of violating the public order," he said.

Mr Medjidli blamed President Ilham Aliev, who according to his story, "doesn't want any real reforms, because his power is held by authoritarianism." He demanded freedom for himself and his colleagues, urging the judge not to carry out the political order of his bosses.

After that, the judge retired for contemplation, and 1.5 hour later read out the verdict.

The courthouse was surrounded by numerous policemen; nevertheless, defendants' supporters kept shouting "Freedom!" and "Resign!"

Local human rights activists condemned the verdict to oppositionists. "The convicts have added their names to the list of political prisoners, since they were arrested for exercising their right to the freedom of assembly. The investigation and the trial were accompanied by violations of their rights. As a rule, petitions of the defence were rejected. The court disregarded the social status of the defendants, who are members of political parties and stand for democratization of the country," said Anar Mamedli, the coordinator of the Alliance in Defence of Rights and Political Freedoms. According to his story, the total number of political prisoners in Azerbaijan is now close to 80.

In his turn, Mevlut Chavusoglu, the head of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), said today at a press conference in Strasbourg that he was informed of the growing number of political prisoners in Azerbaijan. At the same time, he said that he would be able to get acquainted with the situation in place, during his visit to Baku on October 10, where he would attend the international conference on human rights.