Selling your soul to the devil- what money can do in Azerbaijan?

It is amazing how money can change a person. For some, money means nothing, for others it means the world- the more you have the better. And rarely those who have lots of it, spend it for a better cause- feed the hungry in Africa or elsewhere, donate for the poor, join support groups for people who lost everything during earthquakes and etc. However, there are also those, who lose themselves in the process of acquiring their fortune. First, one forgets where it comes from- sources do not matter; then one tries accumulate as much and spend lavishly only for him/herself and others close to them forgetting about an unemployed neighbor with five kids living on the other side of the street or homeless or the poor or the sick. These people get blinded and while they lose themselves, they also sell their souls. Because after that very point, nothing really maters- whose life one ruins, which laws one brakes, there are no more values left to respect, nor there is a human heart.  

The more I pay attention, the more people with these qualities I see. For me however, all that I have for them is a pity as they lose their faith in anything, only to pretend with their fake emotions to still be humans.

When, yesterday (July 20th), the court rejected both of the appeals of Adnan and Emin and gave them their sentence of two months, a good friend of mine- Onnik- wrote on his Facebook status: "How judges in the South Caucasus manage to sleep at night?" My response to him was "Trust me, they get paid so much that all they can think of as they go to sleep is how to earn some more the next day and the next day and the day after- they don't care whose lives they ruin and how!". And this is the reality in Azerbaijan, justice can rarely be found because there is no honesty, nor there is respect to others. 

The situation has reached such a culminating point, that today, despite the international pressure, the case of Emin and Adnan, remained the same. Of course, it was so silly of me to think that there might be a small, tiny bit of a chance for the boys be released. I guess, being "defeated" once (as the government failed to adopt some of the most controversial amendments to the existing legislation on NGOs in Azerbaijan) there was no way, it could have happened again. We were taught a lesson ladies and gents! A lesson that said- don't you dare mess with us! 

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Here, it doesn't matter if you want to do any good, in fact, when you do you get punished for that. And thats what happened to Emin and Adnan. As a good friend and blogger of mine Nigar wrote on her blog entry "[...] the country he [Emin] has been working and living for, the one he dreams to be liberated of corruption and dishonest politicians, the one he came from New York for, the one, he and Adnan will spend at least two months of their lives in jail for".

I wouldn't agree more! But that is not what the government of Azerbaijan thinks. According to the official statements it was a simple act of hooliganism, for which the perpetrators Adnan and Emin are serving their punishment. Then could someone tell me, that if this was a simple act of hooliganism, why were they not given attorneys of their own choice during the 48 hours of their initial detention, or provided with medical assistance, or were allowed to see their parents, or were sentenced to the heaviest sentence for that "simple of act of hooliganism" or their court hearing was held behind closed doors, and to which, no one was able to attend? Seems to be its too much for just "simple hooliganism"?!

And where were the so called "victims" of the attack- Babek Huseynov and Vusal Mammadov- who in reality were the ones to brake Adnan's nose and inflict other body injuries to Emin during the first days of the incident? They were not only released from the back door of the police station to which Emin, Adnan and their friends went VOLUNTARILY to file a complain regarding their attack, but they were no where to be seen following the attack. Their alleged wounds were treated at a local hospital which had NO RECORDS of these two people even stepping their foot to the premises of the building! And then suddenly they come out and give a press statement, blaming the media for falsifying the actual attack and complaining that they were the ones who were beaten by Adnan and Emin and their friends. In fact, the official statement says that their so- called rest was disturbed by Emin and Adnan's loud swearing and that when they complained, Adnan and Emin started a fight. Hmm... well that is weird as I have never heard Emin or Adnan as a matter of fact swear at anyone especially in public. I guess, its their other side that I haven't seen, nor have all of their friends?!! Maybe soon, the officials are going to say that its not even Emin and Adnan who are arrested but two strangers, thinking that we are a bunch of idiots?!!!! 

Here is what another blogger, the author of the "Thoughts on the road" had to say about the arrests: "Now, I have never met Emin or Adnan personally and I was not in that Lebanese restaurant that night. I have, however, eaten in that very restaurant. It was noisy when I ate there. I find it incredible that Emin and Adnan were being that much noisier than anyone else. So much noisier that these fellows came over to ask them to quiet down. Why did these fellows have to take matters into their own hands? If Adnan and Emin were so out of hand, would the management allow them to be so disruptive? Perhaps if Emin and Adnan had been well- connected government officials, this might be possible. But they are and the scenario described here is completely implausible".

No matter what the fight to bring justice  continues. Already a number of concerns were raised by the international organizations and letters written to the President, articles have been published in international newspapers- all in way or another condemning the arrests and expressing concern over the incident. News flow out of capital Baku thanks to constant updates on Facebook, Twitter, Ol's blog- http://ol-az.blogspot.com/ and other local blogs such as http://blog.novruzov.az/ and http://fatalin.blogspot.com/.

There are messages circling on Facebook saying to stay strong and be united. I couldn't agree more!