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The fight against the Coronavirus pandemic currently occupies the attention of governments and societies all around the world. Unfortunately, the Azerbaijani government continues its repression against the opposition and critics even during such a time, which makes it one of a few regimes doing this. During his Novruz holiday address on March 19, Ilham Aliyev declared the opposition personally as the enemy and announced his plan to lock away the opposition, making clear his intention to exploit any potential state of emergency related to the pandemic. Law enforcement officers have already claimed Aliyev’s announcements as instructions and started implementing them immediately.
Just three days later, on March 22, Tofig Yagublu, a prominent figure in the Azerbaijani opposition and a former political prisoner and member of the National Council Coordination Center, was arrested on trumped-up charges of “hooliganism” (currently sentenced to 3 months of pre-trial detention). He could be sentenced anywhere from 2 to 6 years in prison on the charges.
Human rights activist and journalist Elchin Mammad was also rested in Sumgayit following the same speech. He was detained on March 30 on trumped-up charges of theft, and was similarly sentenced to three months of pre-trial detention the following day. Elchin Mammad had prepared and distributed a report on the deplorable human rights situation in Azerbaijan shortly before his arrest.
In addition, Anar Malikov, a member of the Supreme Assembly of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (APFP) and Samir Babayev, a member of the Muslim Union Movement from the Jalilabad region, were arrested for 10 and 30 days, respectively, on various false charges. The public has named them the “coronavirus prisoners,” as Anar Malikov was arrested after writing about the situation in quarantine areas, and Samir Babayev was arrested in Baku while distributing free medical masks to the public for the coronavirus.
Another citizen, Intigam Bayramov, was sentenced to 30 days of administrative arrest for criticizing the country’s leadership. Intigam Bayramov turned out to be a citizen trying to cover his daily expenses by collecting and selling plastic items from landfills, and a day before his arrest, he criticized the country’s leadership in a video he had filmed from the landfill.
Agil Humbatov, a father of three and a member of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (APFP), who earns his living by collecting and selling plastic items and cardboard pieces from landfills, has been sent to a psychiatric clinic for harsh criticism familiar to the activist public in Azerbaijan. He was first admitted to the dispensary on March 30 and released two days later by a court decision. However, after his release, he was detained again on April 2 for continuing to criticize the president after a court decision based on the testimony of three false witnesses.
The government’s attempt to silence critical voices with arrests (even before Ilham Aliyev’s speech) continued throughout March which was a crucial period in the fight against the coronavirus. In the first half of March, poet Elvin Muradov (known as Murvatoglu), a member of the Muslim Union Movement, was detained on charges of illegal possession of weapons for singing a song about the movement’s chairman Tale Bagirzadeh (and his position in general) and sentenced to three months in prison.
A Karabakh veteran named Araz Guliyev was arrested in Shirvan and sentenced to 30 days of administrative arrest on a trumped-up charge after criticizing the country’s leadership and tearing up a tag of the New Azerbaijan Party of which he is a member during a livestream on an online channel.
In addition to other charges and administrative arrests, APFP members Alizamin Salayev and Tazakhan Miralamli, who is also a journalist and an employee of the Azadlig newspaper, have been charged with a crime based on unfounded complaints which were deliberately arranged by the authorities.
All of this points to the fact that the Azerbaijani government, taking advantage of the situation with the global pandemic, wants to strengthen the authoritarian and repressive regime in the country in order to completely silence the opposition and its critics. Apparently, the government is confident that the global democratic community will not be able to pay attention to this reactionary process in Azerbaijan during the current global crisis, and that public protests during the strict quarantine regime will not manifest themselves at home.
The National Council strongly condemns the government’s choice of such an inhumane and seriously detrimental package, and demands its immediate renunciation, the release of those arrested during this period, and the cessation of persecution and threats. The National Council calls on the government of Ilham Aliyev not to lose its sense of responsibility again, and to understand the serious consequences of increasing the hatred and anger of the people against it.
The Azerbaijani government should be able to gauge from the reaction of the world community to the arrest of Tofig Yagublu that the current global pandemic crisis has not completely overshadowed the problems of human rights and freedoms, and that the efforts to strengthen authoritarianism in the country will be costly. The National Council also calls on the global community to speak to the government of Ilham Aliyev in a way he can finally understand and to impose targeted sanctions on responsible government officials in order to end the repression in Azerbaijan once and for all and put an end to the authoritarian rule.
The National Council assures the people of Azerbaijan that no matter how hard the government tries, it will not be able to fully establish the dictatorship in the country. The National Council expresses its determination to continue to mobilize the resistance of our people against this desire of the Ilham Aliyev regime and calls on every compatriot who hopes for a bright future of our country to be proactive and better organized.[:]
