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HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH DEMANDS ACCESS TO LAWYER AND FAMILY FOR DETAINED AZERI JOURNALISTS
http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/03/27/azerbaijan-ensure-detained-journalists-access-lawyer-family
NEW YORK. March 28, 2012: The Azerbaijani authorities should
immediately allow two television journalists facing criminal charges
access to their lawyer and family, and transfer them to a regular
detention facility, Human Rights Watch and Article 19 said today. The
authorities arrested the journalists, who are from the town of Guba
in northeast Azerbaijan, on March 13, 2012, and have kept them for
over a week in a police holding cell, without access to a lawyer and
without informing their families of the journalists' whereabouts. The
authorities have provided no explanation for the conditions or lack
of access, which violate Azerbaijani and international law.
Vugar Gonagov and Zaur Guliyev work for Xayal TV, a regional station
based in Guba. They were detained on March 13, remanded for two
months in pretrial detention, and transferred to the Interior Ministry
in Baku.
"There is nothing that can explain or justify why the police have
denied these journalists access to their families for two weeks,
are holding them in a police cell, and won't let their lawyer meet
with them," said Jane Buchanan, acting deputy director for Europe
and Central Asia. "Locking up journalists or anyone else under these
conditions has no place in a country that claims to respect the rule
of law."
The day of the journalists' detention, Musaffedin Guliyev, Zaur
Guliyev's father, received a phone call from an unidentified caller
informing him that his son was being detained in the Guba prosecutor's
office. Musaffedin Guliyev told Human Rights Watch that he went to
the prosecutor's office on March 13 and again on March 14 but was not
allowed to see his son. A state-appointed lawyer called him on March
19 informing him that his son had been remanded to pretrial detention.
He had no opportunity to appoint an independent lawyer to represent
his son at the remand hearing.
Since their remand to pretrial custody, Gonagov and Guliyev have
been kept in a temporary cell in the Interior Ministry's organized
crime unit in Baku rather than at Kurdakhani Investigative Prison,
the facility where pretrial detainees are held. Interior Ministry
temporary detention isolator cells are meant only for short detentions
of up to 72 hours before the suspects are charged and remanded to
pretrial custody. Detention in these cells for longer than 72 hours
is illegal under Azerbaijani law.
The journalists' lawyer, Elchin Sadigov,has been refused access to
them. On March 23, Sadigov, who initially represented Gonagov, but
now represents both journalists, went to the organized crime unit
and asked to see his client. The duty officer told Sadigov that he
needed permission from the General Prosecutor's Office. Although such
a requirement has no basis in Azerbaijani law, Sadigov sought the
permissions, but was told that because the unit chief was out for the
Novruz Bayram New Year holiday, Sadigov should come back on March 27,
and his request for access to his clients would be reviewed then.
When Sadigov returned to the organized crime unit on March 27 to
see both Gonagov and Guliyev, he was again denied access. He said
the officers there told him: "Why do you come so often? We'll call
you when you are needed. There hasn't yet been approval from the
investigators for you to visit [your clients]." Sadigov has also not
had access to the criminal case materials, which will be crucial for
him in preparing the journalists' defense.
"Access to a lawyer is a fundamental right for any detainee, but the
Azerbaijani authorities apparently think they are above the law,"
Buchanan said. "The government needs to stop making excuses and
immediately guarantee Gonagov and Guliyev their full rights."
The journalists' families have also not had any access to them.
Guliyev's father told Human Rights Watch that he went to the Kurdakhani
Investigative Prison on March 20 and was told that Zaur was not
there.The fatherthen searched for his son among the police stations
in Baku and learned that he was being held at the organized crime
unit. He askedto visit his son and deliver a food parcel for him,
as is typically allowed for pretrial detainees. Officials denied
him access and refused to accept or pass on the parcel. On March 27,
officials finally accepted a parcel.
On March 25, a representative of Azerbaijan's ombudsman's office was
allowed to meet with Gonagov and Guliyev, after a representative of
a local nongovernmental organization called the Ombudsman's hotline
and described the situation.
Because Sadigov has notbeen granted access to the criminal case
file, he does not know for certain which charges have been brought
against the men. One of the journalist's relatives was told by the
state-appointed lawyer representing the journalists at the remand
hearing that the men have been charged with organizing and involvement
in social disorder and abuse of power.
The charges against Gonagov and Guliyev appear to be linked to their
alleged posting on YouTube of a speech by a Guba official, which many
believe was the catalyst for large protests in Guba on March 1. Guba
residents apparently took to the streets in outrage over the speech
in which the head of the Guba Executive Authority, Rauf Habibov,
is alleged to have said, "Guba residents sell their children and
the motherland for 30-40 Azeri manat ($US38-50)." According to media
reports, numerous confrontations between protesters and the police
errupted that day and unknown people set Habibov's house on fire.
Habibov was subsequently fired.
Gonagov and Guliyev face up to three years in prison if convicted.
Azerbaijanhas a long history of arresting journalists on politically
motivated charges or spurious charges, apparently in retaliation for
their critical or investigative journalism. In addition toGonagov and
Guliyev, five other journalists are in prison or pretrial detention
in Azerbaijan.
"It's shocking that the number of journalists in custody in Azerbaijan
just keeps growing, with seven people now either in prison or in
pretrial detention," said Agnès Callamard, executive director of
Article 19. "This is a very troubling signal that Azerbaijan still
isn't ready to live up to its commitments to freedom of expression."
In prison: Ramin Bayramov, editor of the website Islamazeri.com¸ who
was sentenced to 18 months in prison in March for spurious charges
of illegal drugs and firearms possession.
Aydin Janiyev, Khural newspaper correspondent from Lankaran, who was
sentenced to three years in prison in November 2011 on hooliganism
charges, apparently in retaliation for his journalism.
In pretrial detention: Avaz Zeynalli, Khural newspaper editor,
currently in pretrial detention on apparently politically motivated
bribery charges in retaliation for Khural's critical reporting.
Anar Bayramli, a journalist for Iranian TV, detained on February 17,
is in pretrial detention facing spurious drug possession charges.
Ramil Dadshov, who worked as a driver for Anar Bayramli, was detained
separately but on the same day as Bayramli and is also in pretrial
detention facing questionable drug possession charges.
In addition, journalists are frequently subject to harassment,
intimidation, and attacks. Most of these attacks remain unsolved.
The government also limits freedom of expression in other ways,
including breaking up peaceful protests, often with violence,
and arresting and sentencing peaceful protestors, organizers, or
participants. For example, on March 17, police detained two musicians
from the popular band Bulistan, which was playing for participants
at a peaceful demonstration after unidentified men attacked some of
the performers. The musicians allege that they were beaten by police
during their arrest and at the police station where they were initially
held and their lawyer was denied access to the men in custody (HRW).
http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/03/27/azerbaijan-ensure-detained-journalists-access-lawyer-family
NEW YORK. March 28, 2012: The Azerbaijani authorities should
immediately allow two television journalists facing criminal charges
access to their lawyer and family, and transfer them to a regular
detention facility, Human Rights Watch and Article 19 said today. The
authorities arrested the journalists, who are from the town of Guba
in northeast Azerbaijan, on March 13, 2012, and have kept them for
over a week in a police holding cell, without access to a lawyer and
without informing their families of the journalists' whereabouts. The
authorities have provided no explanation for the conditions or lack
of access, which violate Azerbaijani and international law.
Vugar Gonagov and Zaur Guliyev work for Xayal TV, a regional station
based in Guba. They were detained on March 13, remanded for two
months in pretrial detention, and transferred to the Interior Ministry
in Baku.
"There is nothing that can explain or justify why the police have
denied these journalists access to their families for two weeks,
are holding them in a police cell, and won't let their lawyer meet
with them," said Jane Buchanan, acting deputy director for Europe
and Central Asia. "Locking up journalists or anyone else under these
conditions has no place in a country that claims to respect the rule
of law."
The day of the journalists' detention, Musaffedin Guliyev, Zaur
Guliyev's father, received a phone call from an unidentified caller
informing him that his son was being detained in the Guba prosecutor's
office. Musaffedin Guliyev told Human Rights Watch that he went to
the prosecutor's office on March 13 and again on March 14 but was not
allowed to see his son. A state-appointed lawyer called him on March
19 informing him that his son had been remanded to pretrial detention.
He had no opportunity to appoint an independent lawyer to represent
his son at the remand hearing.
Since their remand to pretrial custody, Gonagov and Guliyev have
been kept in a temporary cell in the Interior Ministry's organized
crime unit in Baku rather than at Kurdakhani Investigative Prison,
the facility where pretrial detainees are held. Interior Ministry
temporary detention isolator cells are meant only for short detentions
of up to 72 hours before the suspects are charged and remanded to
pretrial custody. Detention in these cells for longer than 72 hours
is illegal under Azerbaijani law.
The journalists' lawyer, Elchin Sadigov,has been refused access to
them. On March 23, Sadigov, who initially represented Gonagov, but
now represents both journalists, went to the organized crime unit
and asked to see his client. The duty officer told Sadigov that he
needed permission from the General Prosecutor's Office. Although such
a requirement has no basis in Azerbaijani law, Sadigov sought the
permissions, but was told that because the unit chief was out for the
Novruz Bayram New Year holiday, Sadigov should come back on March 27,
and his request for access to his clients would be reviewed then.
When Sadigov returned to the organized crime unit on March 27 to
see both Gonagov and Guliyev, he was again denied access. He said
the officers there told him: "Why do you come so often? We'll call
you when you are needed. There hasn't yet been approval from the
investigators for you to visit [your clients]." Sadigov has also not
had access to the criminal case materials, which will be crucial for
him in preparing the journalists' defense.
"Access to a lawyer is a fundamental right for any detainee, but the
Azerbaijani authorities apparently think they are above the law,"
Buchanan said. "The government needs to stop making excuses and
immediately guarantee Gonagov and Guliyev their full rights."
The journalists' families have also not had any access to them.
Guliyev's father told Human Rights Watch that he went to the Kurdakhani
Investigative Prison on March 20 and was told that Zaur was not
there.The fatherthen searched for his son among the police stations
in Baku and learned that he was being held at the organized crime
unit. He askedto visit his son and deliver a food parcel for him,
as is typically allowed for pretrial detainees. Officials denied
him access and refused to accept or pass on the parcel. On March 27,
officials finally accepted a parcel.
On March 25, a representative of Azerbaijan's ombudsman's office was
allowed to meet with Gonagov and Guliyev, after a representative of
a local nongovernmental organization called the Ombudsman's hotline
and described the situation.
Because Sadigov has notbeen granted access to the criminal case
file, he does not know for certain which charges have been brought
against the men. One of the journalist's relatives was told by the
state-appointed lawyer representing the journalists at the remand
hearing that the men have been charged with organizing and involvement
in social disorder and abuse of power.
The charges against Gonagov and Guliyev appear to be linked to their
alleged posting on YouTube of a speech by a Guba official, which many
believe was the catalyst for large protests in Guba on March 1. Guba
residents apparently took to the streets in outrage over the speech
in which the head of the Guba Executive Authority, Rauf Habibov,
is alleged to have said, "Guba residents sell their children and
the motherland for 30-40 Azeri manat ($US38-50)." According to media
reports, numerous confrontations between protesters and the police
errupted that day and unknown people set Habibov's house on fire.
Habibov was subsequently fired.
Gonagov and Guliyev face up to three years in prison if convicted.
Azerbaijanhas a long history of arresting journalists on politically
motivated charges or spurious charges, apparently in retaliation for
their critical or investigative journalism. In addition toGonagov and
Guliyev, five other journalists are in prison or pretrial detention
in Azerbaijan.
"It's shocking that the number of journalists in custody in Azerbaijan
just keeps growing, with seven people now either in prison or in
pretrial detention," said Agnès Callamard, executive director of
Article 19. "This is a very troubling signal that Azerbaijan still
isn't ready to live up to its commitments to freedom of expression."
In prison: Ramin Bayramov, editor of the website Islamazeri.com¸ who
was sentenced to 18 months in prison in March for spurious charges
of illegal drugs and firearms possession.
Aydin Janiyev, Khural newspaper correspondent from Lankaran, who was
sentenced to three years in prison in November 2011 on hooliganism
charges, apparently in retaliation for his journalism.
In pretrial detention: Avaz Zeynalli, Khural newspaper editor,
currently in pretrial detention on apparently politically motivated
bribery charges in retaliation for Khural's critical reporting.
Anar Bayramli, a journalist for Iranian TV, detained on February 17,
is in pretrial detention facing spurious drug possession charges.
Ramil Dadshov, who worked as a driver for Anar Bayramli, was detained
separately but on the same day as Bayramli and is also in pretrial
detention facing questionable drug possession charges.
In addition, journalists are frequently subject to harassment,
intimidation, and attacks. Most of these attacks remain unsolved.
The government also limits freedom of expression in other ways,
including breaking up peaceful protests, often with violence,
and arresting and sentencing peaceful protestors, organizers, or
participants. For example, on March 17, police detained two musicians
from the popular band Bulistan, which was playing for participants
at a peaceful demonstration after unidentified men attacked some of
the performers. The musicians allege that they were beaten by police
during their arrest and at the police station where they were initially
held and their lawyer was denied access to the men in custody (HRW).