Top Azerbaijani Human Rights Defender Jailed for 6,5 Years in Sham Trial
Published: Apr 16, 2015 Reading time: 2 minutes
April 16, 2015 - In Baku today the Court of Grave Crimes sentenced Rasul Jafarov, Azerbaijan’s leading human rights defender and government critic, to six and a half years in prison. Jafarov, who has been held in custody since 2 August 2014, was found guilty of crimes including tax evasion, illegal entrepreunership, and abuse of power.
"It is outrageous that one of the country’s most prominent activists and a relentless advocate for the rights of those who were unjustly imprisoned or harassed has found himself behind bars. We believe all the charges against Mr Jafarov are politically motivated” – said Adela Pospichalova from Cyech NGO People in Need.
Rasul Jafarov, founder and chairman of the Human Rights Club, rose to prominence in 2012 when he led the Sing for Democracy campaign to draw international attention to Azerbaijan’s worsening human rights record while his country was hosting the popular Eurovision song contest. Building upon the success of the advocacy project, Mr Jafarov also led a subsequent campaign – Art for Democracy – calling upon young people to rally against injustice through art.
Last year, following an unprecedented crackdown on civil society that left many of the Azerbaijan’s prominent activists and journalists behind bars, together with Leyla Yunus (now in detention), Mr Jafarov led a working group tasked with compiling a comprehensive list of the country’s political prisoners. Mr Jafarov’s work was abruptly interruped in August last summer, when he faced unexpected charges and was placed under detention. His trial was criticised as unfair and badly flawed.
"Today’s conviction of Mr Jafarov represents nothing but a grave act of injustice," adds Adela Pospichalova. People in Need, united with other international and local human rights organisations, calls upon the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately release Mr Jafarov, along with other political prisoners unjustly held for criticising the government.
In recent months, the crackdown against independent voices in Azerbaijan has intensified. Despite recent pardons, the number of political prisoners in the country nearly doubles the number of those held in Russia or Belarus. The authorities also continue to use trumped-up charges to stifle independent voices.
For more information please contact: Adela Pospichalova, Poeple in Need: Tel.: +420 777 787 968, mail: adela.pospichalova@clovekvtisni.cz