Democracy and human rights activist Leyla Yunus (Credit: RFE/RL)
The Azerbaijani government has postponed the trial of human rights activist Leyla Yunus, head of the Institute for Peace and Democracy, a grantee of the National Endowment for Democracy. Human rights groups have called for the authorities to abandon a libel case against Yunus who is accused of “insulting” the interior ministry and causing “moral damage” to the reputation of the police by comparing of the force to those in Mexico and Nigeria.
The prospect of a fair trial seems slight. The “overwhelming majority” of the country’s courts issue “illegal and unwarranted decisions”, Yunus recently said, noting that citizens are “practically unprotected from the arbitrariness of judges.”
Today, the World Movement for Democracy reports, Yunus insisted that on January 23, Judge Shahin Abdullayev infringed her right to a public trial:
According to Dr. Yunus, the judge and officials of the court demanded that attendees leave the courtroom, since there was a lack of seats for those wishing to observe the trial. Dr. Yunus asserts that a small room of the Nasimi District Court was deliberately chosen and was half-filled with police officers in citizens’ clothes. As a result, of some 70 people (mass media, NGOs, and international observers) who came to see the trial, no more than 20 were able to stay in the courtroom. The trial itself lasted about 10 minutes before being postponed until January 26, at which time Judge Abdullayev transferred Minister Usubov’s law suit to a different jurisdiction.
Activists cite the Yunus case a further instance of the Azerbaijani government stifling free expression. The Aliyev regime recently this month banned foreign radio broadcasters, including RFE/RL, the BBC, and Voice of America, from local frequencies.
Police arrested Azerbaijani opposition leader Fakhreddin Abbasli last week while he was collecting signatures to register his opposition Musavat party for upcoming elections. The party is organizing a protest of the March referendum on ending presidential term limits which will effectively make incumbent President Ilham Aliyev, now in his final term, president for life.
As Human Rights Watch notes:
During the past two years, the Azerbaijani government has undermined free expression in the country, jailing editors and journalists who criticize its record, intimidating human rights defenders, and closing newspapers and a human rights organization. In July 2007, the pro-government Modern Musavat party held a protest outside the Institute for Peace and Democracy, the human rights organization that Yunus directs, throwing eggs and tomatoes and shouting offensive remarks.
The case is a further instance of an authoritarian regime violating democratic rights protected by international conventions to which it is a signatory. Azerbaijan is a party to both Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights treaties which protect free expression.
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