The accusations against public activist Bakhtiyar Hajiyev have been fabricated and politically motivated. Bakhtiyar Hajiyev is a political prisoner, Rufat Safarov, co-founder of the human rights organization Line of Defense, told Turan. Accusing Hajiyev of “hooliganism” and “disrespect for the court” are devoid of legal grounds. He is convinced that the authorities are persecuting Hajiyev in connection with his political activities and the order for his arrest comes from the “top of power.”
According to Safarov, Hajiyev’s arrest is related to his recent participation in a number of authoritative international forums, where he criticized human rights violations in Azerbaijan and called for sanctions against officials involved in repressions against opposition-minded people.
“In this regard, they want to isolate Bahtiyar Hajiyev,” Safarov said, and referring to the words of the activist himself, he noted in court that Hajiyev was to visit the United States soon. Safarov expressed concern for Hajiyev’s fate.
“There is no guarantee that no sanctions will be applied against him. He was kidnapped even while being released, then what can be expected from treatment in custody,” Safarov said. He also pointed out the unlawfulness of Hajiyev’s detention under the Articles of the Criminal Code imputed to him.
Thus, according to the Code of Criminal Procedure, the court may choose a measure of restraint in the form of arrest if the accused faces a sentence of imprisonment for more than 2 years.
The charges brought against Hajiyev under the Articles 221.1 (hooliganism) and 289.1 (disrespect for the court) provide for maximum penalties of up to 1 year and 6 months in prison, respectively.
However, Fazil Mustafa, a member of the Milli Majlis Committee on Human Rights, does not see “political moments” in Hajiyev’s case. “This is not the first time this person has committed such actions against someone. It is not right to link this with some political motives. If people cannot control their behavior, then it is wrong to present them as political prisoners,” Mustafa said.
According to him, there are normally functioning bloggers and activists in Azerbaijan, and they are not arrested, and they do not have any problems. Hajiyev was detained on December 9 in a case opened based on a complaint by journalist Ulviya Alovlu, with whom he had a lawsuit over mutual accusations of defamation.
The conflict with Alovlu began after they quarreled because they did not share the kittens from their cats. Domestic dispute resulted in mutual accusations and litigation. Bahtiyar Hajiyev has repeatedly stated that the authorities took advantage of this fact to avenge his criticism. Bahtiyar Hajiyev is known as an ardent critic of the government’s policies. He was repeatedly detained and subjected to repression.
In August of this year, he wrote a statement to the presidential administration renouncing Azerbaijani citizenship due to violations of his rights
Source: Turan News Agency