Aliyev's mask is finally off

It just keeps getting better and better. After appointing his wife as VP, intimidating family members of dissident activists living abroad, president Aliyev's minions go after popular video blogger, author of numerous videos critical of the government and its officials of their lavish life styles. Court in Baku sentenced Mehman Huseynov to two years on charges of slander. 

This is important. Huseynov is the first journalist/blogger to be openly sentenced for slander. So the mask is finally off for president Aliyev. No need for cover ups and camouflages. And why should he be hiding anymore anyway. He has changed the constitution, secured presidency for life, violated every single possible human rights convention Azerbaijan signed up to and got away with it, made his wife his vice president. 

Mehman's sentence means that the government in Azerbaijan no longer needs to hide its true colors; that more arrests will follow [not that there were many independent voices left anyway] and that we have successfully transitioned to being banana republic (not that we were too far from  becoming one). 

I think someone should tell one of Aliyev's minions they should add that description into one of Aliyev's speeches where he boasts about democracy, freedoms, modernism and so on. "In addition to many strengths of our country, we have also successfully built a banana republic".

***Updated
Also today, court extended pre-trial detention period of Faig Amirli, finance director at opposition Azadliq newspaper by three months;
Another court extended pre-trial detention of political activist Fuad Ahmadli by three months;
And yet another court extended pre-trial detention of another journalist Elchin Ismayilli until June;

No place for 300 Spartans in Azerbaijan

Remember the talking donkey from 2009? We all know how that satirical story ended- the brains behind the satirical video were jailed. Hooliganism was their sentence because the government was too embarrassed to reveal the actual destination of the lump sum of some 40 grand, which was the reported price of the super special imported donkey. 

So it was not surprising that when another satirical video appeared online two days ago, the brain behind it was apprehended immediately, questioned and "asked" not to publish anything of this sort in the run up to the presidential elections. 

Young photo journalist Mehman Huseynov who prepared the video said [AZ] following his release that he had no idea he was taken in for questioning because of the video. It was only after the police mentioned it to him that he realized what caused his apprehension. In an interview with Radio Free Euope, Huseynov said he told the police that this was political satire but apparently the dislike was so great that it caused a several hour interrogation anyway.

The video (below) in question is the classic that many of you probably have seen "300", a story about King Leonidas and a force of 300 men fighting the Persians at Thermopylae in 480 B.C. Talented Huseynov, took one of the most important scenes from the movie (the one when "evil men are pushed into the big well") and mashed it with a recent speech of Cemil Hesenli- main candidate running against Aliyev in the upcoming presidential elections scheduled to take place on October 9th. The scene ends with Hesenli saying "this regime must go".

Another embarrassment for the authorities if you ask me- Huseynov's video had only about 4,000 views before he was taken in for questioning, as of today it received 35,980 viewers (at the time this post is written). And if the government is so certain its going to win, why all this stress because one satirical video?!

A storm is coming- a new wave of repression in Azerbaijan after Eurovision (Updated)

Updated (June 13th):
Today, June 13th, following a court hearing, Meham Huseynov, was officially released! Congratulations to all friends and supporters!
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And here we go... Its only been some weeks after Eurovision but already a new wave of repression is taking place in Azerbaijan. This time, the target is a young photojournalist and a blogger Mehman Huseynov. According to BBC Azerbaijani service [AZ] Huseynov received a subpoena from the police calling him into questioning based on article 221.1 of the Criminal Code- "blamed for hooliganism while showing resistance to government agent fulfilling his duty while protecting the public order or showing resistance to government agent preventing distortion of public order or resisting another person". But the subpoena fails to notify Huseynov whether he is called in as a witness or as a perpetrator. 

The BBC article reports that the Ministry of Internal Affairs stated that young journalist resisted police during a rally organized in front of the Baku City Administrative Office.

I will share more updates as soon as there are any. But so far, this looks nothing less than a new wave of repression by Azerbaijani authorities against young advocates. Looks like there is even an encouragement especially following recent visit by Hilary Clinton to Azerbaijan and little attention that was given to democracy and human rights abuses taking place sporadically and with no valid explanations. The question is, who is going to be next? The whole country?

Updated on June 12th, 2012:
Mehman Huseynov was taken into police custody tonight. He will be held there for two days despite absence of court decision. He is facing a charge on hooliganism and is facing imprisonment. According to this article in Radio Free Europe [AZ] local service, he is facing a year in prison if accusations are proved true. Mehman is also the employee of the Institute for Reporter's Freedom and Safety. Follow this Facebook group for more updates on the case: http://www.facebook.com/groups/375346329198459/?notif_t=group_added_to_group

Here are some links (visit the Facebook page as well for more updates) with Mehman's work:
- http://azerbaijan.usembassy.gov/pr_09212010.html - Mehman, 2010 winner of Democracy Challenge US State Dept. Photo Challenge;
- http://www.ndr.de/fernsehen/sendungen/zapp/medien_politik_wirtschaft/baku207.html - this recent German mini documentary on Eurovision featuring Mehman;
- http://www.youtube.com/user/HOSTEL19AZ - Mehman's personal YouTube channel with over 2.5million views