Arrested rights activist in Azerbaijan
On May 15, the Baku Court of Appeal dismissed the complaint of Anar Mammadli, the head of the Election Monitoring and Democracy Studies Center (EMDS), regarding the refusal to transfer him to house arrest. This was reported by his lawyer, Elmar Suleymanov.
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According to the lawyer, during the trial, Mammadli rejected the accusation of smuggling and linked the criminal case to his public and human rights activities.
Prior to the court hearing, it was revealed that Mammadli’s arrest was made in violation of Articles 5 (right to liberty and security) and 18 (limits on the use of restrictions on rights) of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Anar Mammadli was arrested on April 30 on charges of smuggling by conspiracy of a group of individuals (Article 206.3.2 of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan).
Initially, he was implicated in the “Abzas Media case.” However, his case was later separated into a separate proceeding.
Multiple international organizations and the US Department of State have called on the Azerbaijani government to immediately release Anar Mammadli and other detained journalists and activists.
The criminal cases have been initiated against approximately 20 activists and journalists over the past six months.