Shame on ... us!

The day when residents of Baku gathered at the Fountain Square to raise their concerns over killings of conscripts during their military service in Azerbaijan, the country's social media presence was alive as ever. In her analysis of #protestbaku Katy Pearce, pointed out to some interesting facts, but what caught my attention was her evaluation of what she referred to as "Group 4"- the pro- government youth groups, and one very popular young gentleman led by Rauf Mardiyev, who is notorious for his outlandish statements and tweets when it comes to anyone who is, well, lets just say not like him and his support network. The day when everyone was using #protestbaku, he initiated another hashtag #Khadijautan ("shame on Khadija"). Now the readers of this blog, already might be familiar with the name Khadija Ismayil. She is a well known and well respected journalists from Baku, woman of courage and strength. It would not be an exaggeration to add a woman of inspiration. 

#Khadijautan was aimed solely at Khadija, accusing her for accusing dead conscript's mother in bargaining. She explained herself in the following Facebook status update: 

I wrote "there is a need for mothers in this country who don't bargain over their son's dead bodies"[...].

As Rauf and others were busy throwing dirt at Khadija, none of them, bothered to say anything about the wicked military service of our country. Is it because they consider it impeccable? So who should carry this shame? Certainly not Khadija and thousands of Baku residents, were right there, on the streets, demanding an end to deaths of Azerbaijani soldiers, resignation and final resolution to this situation. This wasn't the first time that a conscript lost his live. 

So whose shame is it at the end? Surely its our shame to share if we are talking about shame in general. It is ours to share because it is our country, our soldiers and our government's ill treatment of its citizens, young boys who are sent to complete their military services but who are mistreated. It is our shame for not taking action earlier. Its easy to shame someone, but shouldn't we start from shaming ourselves? Doesn't everything begin from our individual selves? It is shame indeed. But it our shame to share and deal with so all those biased critiques please grow up and take some responsibility ...

Heart failure or torture, that is the question

A solider died. His name was Ceyhun Qubatov. He left his home approximately three months ago to fulfill his obligatory military service. He never returned.

His family was first told, he died of a heart failure. Strangely, Qubatov never had a heart condition, not according to medical reports prior to his military service, not during the service. 

Following desperate cries from his family (including photographs of the deceased that explicitly showed bruising over his body), an investigation is now launched, with some 15 suspected conscripts. 

Interesting isn't it? If it wasn't for Qubatov's family members' cries, this so- called "investigation" would never take place. I wonder whether those 15 suspected soldiers are actually suspects? Surely some of them will go to the tribunal, no one will dare to punish any of the high command military personnel who probably committed this treachery.

And of course, if initial report said Qubatov died of a heart failure, then why, all of a sudden there is an investigation, suspects?

It is just sad. A solider died. Life is lost. A young life. A life that had a future. But someone decided to end this life early. That someone will most likely never get punished for this, instead, someone else will rot somewhere in jail.

To commemorate the death of Qubatov and many more soldiers who "mysteriously" died (not during combat) of conditions as "heart failure" (and others) during their military service, a silent march is planned on January 12th at 16.00. A Facebook group [AZ] called "An end to death of soldiers" [with an impressive number of attendants already in its first day] reminds its readers that in no way this is a political protest, instead it should be seen as people's chance to say "Stop!" to this injustice, calling on anyone with conscience to come and join the crowd.

Incidentally one of the organizer's of the Facebook page, Ilkin Rustemzade reported of a police hunt on him. According to Rustemzade, his house, his relatives' homes, all received visits by local police officers in their "witch hunt" on him. Could it be a coincidence that all of a sudden he is on the radar? I wonder what is the explanation for this? Wait a second... I think we might already know this scenario- could it be hooliganism?

Bakhtiyar Hajiyev's case remains unsettled

On Tuesday, December 6th, the Supreme Court of Azerbaijan rejected Bakhtiyar Hajiyev's appeal. His lawyer, Sadig Bagirov, not surprised with the final ruling, announced his decision to take Hajiyev's case to the European Court of Human Rights. 

According to AzeriReport article, Hajiyev didn't attend the hearing due to "technical" issues (it turns out Azerbaijan is not so advanced when it comes to technology- the telegram sent the day before the hearing asking for Hajiyev's permission to be present at his own hearing miraculously never reached the court in time). 

During the hearing three motions were raised. Among them (and one of the most important ones) were a request to clarify "the compliance of the law on military service with the Azerbaijani Constitution" given Azerbaijani Constitution allows for alternative military service [Hajiyev was arrested on charges of evading military service] while the law on military service has not provided any provision on alternative service".

The decision indeed should come as no surprise. This happened before and will continue happening as long as Azerbaijan remains among the countries controlling its every single state institution, including the judicial system.