Urgent Action Update: Activist Sentenced To 10 Years For Graffiti Protest (Azerbaijan: UA 114/16)

 

Azerbaijani youth activist Bayram Mammadov was sentenced to 10 years in prison on 8 December for a graffiti protest. Fellow activist Giyas Ibrahimov was also sentenced to 10 years in prison on 25 October. They are prisoners of conscience and should be released immediately.

 

The Grave Crimes Court in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, sentenced Azerbaijani youth activist Bayram Mammadov to 10 years in prison on 8 December. Bayram Mammadov was found guilty under Article 234 of the Criminal Code (drug possession for the purpose of selling, aggravated by acting as part of a group). His fellow activist Giyas Ibrahimov was also found guilty and sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment under the same Article on 25 October. Giyas Ibrahimov and Bayram Mammadov are prisoners of conscience.

 

Giyas Ibrahimov and Bayram Mammadov were arrested on 10 May after the authorities claimed that police had discovered around eight grams of heroin in their possession. The day before, they had painted a political graffiti on the statue of Heydar Aliyev, the late former President of Azerbaijan and father of President Ilham Aliyev.

 

The drug charges against Giyas Ibrahimov and Bayram Mammadov have been fabricated with the sole purpose of punishing them for their political protest. They have complained of torture and other ill-treatment in custody, including severe beatings and threat of rape, aimed at forcing them to apologise publicly for the graffiti, but heir allegations – and their injuries witnessed by their lawyer and others – have been ignored by the authorities.

Bayram Mammadov and Giyas Ibrahimov are members of the Azerbaijani pro-democracy youth movement NIDA. Bayram Mammadov has been a NIDA member since February 2016. Giyas Ibrahimov joined the movement after his arrest in May 2016.

 

1) TAKE ACTION

Write a letter, send an email, call, fax or tweet:

• Calling on the authorities to release Bayram Mammadov and Giyas Ibrahimov immediately as they are prisoners of conscience prosecuted for exercising their right to freedom of expression;
• Calling on the authorities to carry out an immediate, effective and impartial investigation into the alleged torture and other ill-treatment of Bayram Mammadov and Giyas Ibrahimov and into the fabrication of charges against them;
• Insisting on a full respect for and protection of the rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly in Azerbaijan.

Contact these two officials by 19 January, 2017: