OPHRD urges to release Elchin Mamed

In its petition addressed to Azerbaijani authorities, the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (OPHRD) has expressed its concern about the state of health of the activist Elchin Mamed and about the refusal to mitigate his punishment. The OPHRD has called on the authorities to immediately release Mamed from jail.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the Baku court refused to replace the Mamed's remaining term of freedom deprivation for the conditional one or to transfer him to a colony in connection with his serving a third of the sentence.

The OPHRD has noted that in prison Mamed's health condition "has deteriorated sharply due to the absence of adequate medical care."

Elchin Mamed was arrested a couple of days after he posted on the Internet a critical report on the human rights situation in Azerbaijan. Policemen claimed that stolen jewellery and ammunition were found in his office, the OPHRD has recalled.

The circumstances under which the court sentenced Mamed to four years in prison suggest that the human rights defender was deprived of the right to a fair trial, experts of the OPHRD believe.

The OPHRD has treated Mamed's case as "a symbol of serious and widespread abuse and intimidation of human rights defenders in Azerbaijan."

The "Caucasian Knot" has also reported that, according to analysts, Azerbaijani authorities need political prisoners in the country as a frightening factor for maintaining power stability and as a subject of political bargaining with the West.