Head of independent election monitoring group must be released
11:57, December 17, 2013 | AnnouncementsOn 16 December 2013, the chairman of the Azerbaijani Election Monitoring and Democracy Studies Center Anar Mammadli was sentenced to 3 months pre-trial detention, in a politically charged case.
Tuesday, 17 December 2013, by Human Rights House Foundation (HRHF)
Anar MammadliAnar Mammadli was called to the Prosecutor’s Office in the evening on 16 December 2013 at 16:30 for interrogation in regard to the criminal case opened soon after the presidential election of 9 October. The criminal case was opened with tax evasion, illegal business activity, and abuse of authority.
Anar Mammadli was brought to the Nasimi District Court the same day. He was not given the opportunity to call his own lawyer and was represented by a lawyer appointed by the court.
Anar Mammadli pre-trial detention is related to the case opened against Azerbaijani Election Monitoring and Democracy Studies Centre (EMDS) in the aftermath of the Presidential elections of 9 October 2013. Member NGOs of the South Caucasus Network of Human Rights Defenders and the Human Rights House Network in a joint letter of 12 November 2013 called upon the President and the Prosecutor General of the Republic of Azerbaijan to put an end to the investigations into the activities of the Election Monitoring and Democracy Studies Centre, which they consider as a harassment diminishing its independence and impeding on the right to freedom of association.
In their joint letter of 12 November, the NGOs stated that they see the case opened against EMDS as “related to the organisation’s activities and its conclusions in regard to the Presidential elections of 9 October 2013. Its conclusions are documented, fact-based and provide important first-hand information to international actors. Hence, it is a disturbing voice – as the Election Monitoring Centre was until May 2008.”