The Supreme Court upholds Bakhtiyar Hajiyev in jail

The Supreme Court of Azerbaijan chaired by Imran Hajibayov considered today the appeal of a young activist and blogger Bakhtiyar Hajiyev. In May this year he was sentenced to two years of imprisonment on charges of evading military service.

   The trial was held in public. The judge said that Hajiyev did not want to participate in the trial. However, the lawyer Sadiq Bagirov said that Hajiyev wanted to participate, and such a telegram was sent to court yesterday. 

The lawyer asked if the court received the telegram. The judge’s answer was "Do you think that a telegram you sent yesterday could reach us today?"

   The lawyer told about arguments of the appeal and made three petitions. The first one provided for the inquiry to the Constitutional Court on the compliance of the law on military service of the Constitution, taking into account that there is not a norm on alternative service.

    The second petition demanded to admit that Hajiyev’s rights for freedom was violated, and this right has been guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights. In particular, his arrest was illegal Hajiyev on the basis of evidence the police, without hearing protection.

    The lawyer also demanded to admit the violation of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights prohibiting torture. The lawyer said after the arrest, Hajiyev was tortured; he reminded that the Prosecutor Office refused to file a lawsuit on the fact of torture.

  The judge asked whether Hajiyev’s desire to have alternative service was caused by other religion, but the lawyer said that Hajiyev is a Muslim, and his wish was not related to religious beliefs. Bagirov said that it is not a belief, and that Hajiyev

is being persecuted for his political activities. The lawyer finally asked to stop a criminal case and to justify Hajiyev.

    Further, the public prosecutor Mahir Abbas said that although there is not a law about the right to alternative service, however, the country lives in conditions of “undeclared war.” Abbasov spoke out against all claims, and asked the court to dismiss the appeal.

   After the meeting, the judge declared that   Bakhtiyar Hajiyev’s compliant was rejected.

   Commenting on the verdict, the lawyer said he was expected and it is impossible to obtain justice in Azerbaijan, "Therefore, we will seek justice in the European Court of Human Rights, he said.

* Hajiyev balloted for the Milli Mejlis at the parliamentary elections on November 7, 2010 After the elections; he presented evidences of falsification of the results of elections. He was also one of the organizers of the action of protest “The Great National Day" on Facebook which took place on March 11. However, on the eve of the action on March 4 Hajiyev was arrested in Ganja on charges of the evasion of military service. On May 18 the Nizami regional court of Ganja sentenced him to two years of imprisonment. Subsequently, Ganja Court of Appeal upheld the verdict.

Local and international human rights organizations have recognized Hajiyev as a political prisoner. International human rights organization Amnesty International considers Hajiyev "prisoner of conscience."