Azeri bloggers appeal rejected by the Supreme Court

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Deutsch: [Einspruch von Azeri Bloggern vom Höchstgericht abgewiesen | http://www.unwatched.org/node/2130]

The Azerbaijani Supreme Court took a disturbing decision on 19 August 2010
rejecting the appeal by bloggers and activists Emin Milli and Adnan Hajizade
thus upholding the previous decisions taken by the lower courts in 2009 that
convicted the two bloggers under false accusations of hooliganism.

The two bloggers were arrested on 8 July 2009 after having appealed to the
police as victims of an assault in a restaurant and, on 11 November 2009,
Baku’s Sabail district court sentenced them to 2 and 2,5 years of
imprisonment respectively, on charge of hooliganism. Several NGOs, media,
freedom activists, political institutions, OSCE Representatives for Freedom
of the Media, the Council of Europe High Commissioner for Human Rights and
foreign diplomats including US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, have
criticised the sentence expressing the conviction that the bloggers had been
jailed for political reasons. The two young men were well known activists
having expressed critical opinions to the Azeri Government.

“Milli and Hajizade are clearly in prison for exercising their right to
freedom of expression”, stated Article 19 Executive Director Agnès Callamard
who considered that the decision only demonstrated “the lack of independence
of the Azerbaijani judiciary”.

Article 19 calls on the Azerbaijani government to release Milli and Hajizade
from prison as well as other people imprisoned for political reasons and to
cease the imprisonment of persons for expressing critical opinions to the
Government.

Milli and Hajizade’s lawyers said they would appeal to the European Court of
Human Rights.

Azerbaijan: Supreme Upholds Bloggers’ Convictions (20.08.2010)
http://advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org/2010/08/20/azerbaijan-supreme-court-upholds-bloggers-conviction/

Azerbaijan Supreme Court rejects bloggers’ appeal: lawyer (20.08.2010)
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jzFVNQDkDjNEzrkPR9cDet11k38w

Azerbaijani bloggers still jailed (23.08.2010)
http://www.panorama.am/en/law/2010/08/19/az-bloggers/

EDRi-gram: Azeri bloggers abusively sentenced by the Baku court (18.11.2009)
http://www.edri.org/edrigram/number7.22/azeri-bloggers-convicted-abuse