Press Release: Dismay as Rasul Jafarov is sentenced to 6 years and 3 months imprisonment in appeal

Paris-Geneva,July 31, 2015 – The sentencing of human rights defender RasulJafarov to six years in prison was confirmed today by the before the Baku Courtof Appeal. Arbitrarily detained since August 2, 2014, the conviction of Mr.Rasul Jafarov is based on trumped-up charges and aims at preventing him fromcarrying out his legitimate human rights activities, the Observatory for theProtection of Human Rights Defenders said today.

On July 31, 2015, theBaku Court of Appeal sentenced Mr. Rasul Jafarov to 6 years and 3 monthsimprisonment. Founder and Chairman of the Human Rights Club and an active memberin the “Sing for Democracy” and the "Art of Democracy” movements ahead ofthe Eurovision song contest in Baku in May 2012, Mr. Jafarov was planning acampaign called “Sports for Human Rights” prior to the Baku European Games whenhe was arrested. Mr. Rasul Jafarov was sentenced in first instance on April 16,2015, on spurious charges of “illegal entrepreneurship”, “tax evasion”, “abuseof office”, “embezzlement” and “forgery”[1].No evidence whatsoever of Mr. Jafarov's guilt was provided.

“Since the end of the Baku Games in June 2015, two human rightsdefenders have already been sentenced in appeal to long prison terms. It sadlypaves the way to further harassment against other defenders whose trials arepresently ongoing”, said FIDH President Karim Lahidji.

A trial observer fromthe Human Rights Centre in Georgia (HRIDC) represented the Observatory duringthe July-31 hearing, which failed to meet international fair trial standards.Mr. Jafarov was placed in a cage and the motion raised by the defence to letthe accused sit by his lawyers was denied.

Initially sentencedto 6 and a half years in prison, the Court of Appeal dismissed the charge oftax evasion and thus reduced his sentence by three months. In an attempt toopen a dialogue with the authorities, and although he does not plead guilty,Mr. Jafarov paid the taxes.

“Azerbaijan's current policy follows a very simple and sinister logic:if you can't beat them, jail them. This latest sentence calls for a strongreaction from the international community. Azerbaijan cannot get away with itscrackdown any longer.”, added OMCT Secretary GeneralGerald Staberock.

Mr. Rasul Jafarov isthe second human rights defender to be sentenced in appeal among all thosetargeted since the 2014 crackdown, which has witnessed the harassment, arrest and detention of allprominent human rights defenders in the country. The trials of Ms. LeylaYunus Director of the Institute for Peace and Democracy (IPD) and memberof OMCT General Assembly, Mr. Arif Yunusov, Chief of IPD’s department ofconflictology, and of Ms. Khadija Ismayilova, award-winninginvestigative journalist and well-known independent reporter, are currentlyongoing.

TheObservatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (OBS) was created in1997 by FIDHand the WorldOrganisation Against Torture (OMCT). The objective of this programme is to intervene to prevent or remedysituations of repression against human rights defenders.

For more information,please contact :

• FIDH : Lucie Kroening (French / English / German/ Arabic) - Tel: +33 6 48 05 91 57 (Paris) / Arthur Manet (French /English / Spanish) - Tel: +33 6 72 28 42 94 (Paris)
• OMCT : Miguel Martín Zumalacárregui (French /English / Spanish) - Tel: +41 22 809 49 24 (Geneva/Brussels)

[1] See The Observatory's trial observationreport, "If you can’t beat them, jail them": The case of Human Rights Defender Rasul Jafarov - Publication of a trial observation report", June 2015