Press Release: Intigam Aliyev's sentence upheld following a summary trial

Paris-Geneva,July 23, 2015 – On July 21, 2015, the Baku Courtof Appeal upheld the 7.5 year imprisonment sentence against Mr. Intigam Aliyevfollowing summary proceedings which failed to meet international fair trialstandards. Mr. Intigam Aliyev is the first to be sentenced in appeal for hishuman rights work among many human rights defenders arrested during the 2014crackdown targeting civil society in Azerbaijan. The Observatory for theProtection of Human Rights Defenders condemns the conviction on trumped-upcharges of the prominent human rights lawyer and calls for a strong reaction bythe international community.

On July 21,2015, the Baku Appeal Court dismissed an appeal filed on behalf of human rightsdefender Mr. Intigam Aliyev and upheld a 7.5 year imprisonment sentence.Head of the Legal Education Society and human rights lawyer, Mr. Aliyev hasrepresented over 100 victims before the European Court of Human Rights. Chargedwith “tax evasion, “abuse of authority”, “illegal entrepreneurship”, and“appropriation”, he was sentenced by the Baku Grave Crimes Court on April 22,2015.

During theJuly 21st hearing all petitions filed by the defence were denied. Mr. Aliyevwas not allowed to sit next to his lawyer and was placedin a glass cage in which he could barely hear the proceedings. Furthermore,the presiding judge repeatedly turned off the microphone when Mr. Aliyevchallenged the fairness of the judicial proceedings.

“Less than a month after the closureof the European Games, Azeri authorities just waited for the departure of theinternational community to resume their crackdown on human rights defenders.This confirms the calls from civil society organisations to avoid that the BakuGames remain business as usual in this repressive context”,said FIDH President Karim Lahidji.

Sincethe beginning of his detention on August 8, 2014, Mr. Aliyev’s health hasseverely deteriorated. He suffers from violent headaches, loss of appetite andinsomnia. A medical exam ran at the end of October, revealed that he wassuffering from medical disorders – which require hospitalisation.

“This sham appeal trial is the firstof what is probably going to be a long series of summary appeals to secure thedetention of all dissident voices and human rights defenders in Azerbaijan.With some limited exceptions, the reaction of the international community tothis wave of repression has been very mild and it is about time for a strongresponse”, concluded OMCT Secretary General GeraldStaberock.

On the sameday, a 10-minutes long preliminary hearing in Rasul Jafarov's appeal trial washeld before the Baku Court of Appeal. Mr. Jafarovwas condemned by a lower court to six and a half years of jail on trumped-upcharges. Several civil society representatives, journalists and diplomats weredenied access to the courtroom in violation of the principle of the publicityof hearings. Next hearing was scheduled on July 31, 2015.

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 remedy situationsof repression against human rights defenders.

For moreinformation, 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 MartínZumalacárregui (French / English / Spanish) - Tel: +41 22 809 49 24(Geneva/Brussels)