Amnesty International has accused Azerbaijan of using fabricated charges in order to clamp down on public dissent. The accusations come in the wake of the Azerbaijani courts upholding the charge of “hooliganism” against Adnan Hajizade and Emin Milli in their recent court appeals.
The pair, heavily involved with peaceful political groups were arrested following their posting of a satirical video on YouTube. The video featured a mock press conference hosted by a donkey in reference to a recent importing of donkeys from Germany. There have been accusations of corruption in connection with the deal worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. They have been given prison sentences of two and two and a half years respectively.
Amnesty International has drawn attention to irregularities in the case, such as denying two key witnesses the right to give evidence.
“They were convicted on fabricated charges in a trial falling short of international standards for fairness solely because they were expressing their views” said Andrea Huber of Amnesty International. She went on to say that “Independent journalists and activists continue to face harassment and imprisonment in Azerbaijan despite the country’s international obligations to uphold the right to freedom of expression.” Azerbaijan scored 146 out of 175 in Reporters Sans Frontiers’ latest worldwide index.