Alley Oop!

It is depressing. Reading news from Azerbaijan is depressing. Hearing terrible stories about detentions, arrests, kidnappings is depressing. Hearing government officials lie despite of everything that is going on is depressing. Hearing new human rights activists and advocates being barred from leaving the country is depressing. Hearing bank accounts being frozen is depressing. 

How easy it has become to kidnap people in Azerbaijan? 

How simple one can accuse someone of fraudulent engagements when the whole government is in nothing else but fraudulent.

Perhaps we don't even have to aim so high. Take any school, or a university for that matter in Azerbaijan. Look at the level of corruption there?! We have doctors with bought diplomas for Gods sake?! Do you know what this means?! That we have no future! Or we have a very depressing future ahead. 

It is depressing. Sometimes I cannot even stomach it. How can it be so easy. It just happens. Alley oop and all of a sudden you can land in jail. Alley oop and you are a drug addict. Alley oop, and you are a traitor.

But this is not a circus. Its all real. And its real people who are punished. Yes, punished! For speaking their mind, for being open minded, for embracing (or at least wanting to) a future that is not DEPRESSING!

And why? Because someone is not comfortable, someone needs to have the constant state of fear installed in such a way that it only needs an occasional update, like today, chuck few people in jail, freeze few more accounts and there you have it.  No need for an update until the pretrial detention times run out and then a new update is needed. Another alley oop and there, you have it- another innocent man or a woman in behind bars, or threatened, or blackmailed. Doesn't matter as long as the end goal is clear- more fear!

And its everyone. Everyone must live in fear. Activists, their family members, their friends, their distant family, and distant friends. 

You see what I mean! It is just depressing...

More members of N!DA arrested today

Two more members of N!DA Civic Movement were arrested today. Rashadat Akhundov and Uzeyir Mammedli were accused under article 228.3 of the Criminal Code for firearm violations. They too like other previously arrested members of the movement are facing between 5 to 8 years of imprisonment. 

For more updates follow here and here.

Ruslan Asad and Rashad Hasanov interrogated today

UPDATED (March 15):
According to Rashad Hasanov's lawyer, Asabali Mustafayev, Rashad is facing a possible 8 years of imprisonment if found guilty on charges of illegal weapons possession. In addition according to Khadija Ismayil, from Baku, Hasanov is refused his right to see a lawyer. Supporters are afraid he might be tortured and forced to publicly accept his "crime" as it was the case with previous three N!DA members.

UPDATED:
Ruslan Asad was just released. He was questioned by the prosecutor. It is likely that he will be summoned again for more questioning tomorrow. He was not mistreated. This interrogation shouldn't have been surprising, following a notoriously misleading piece written by once-upon-time prisoner of conscience, journalist Eynulla Fatullayev about NDI's alleged two million dollar financial support to organize a "Facebook Revolution" in Azerbaijan [rus]. Perhaps, we should thank Mr. Fatullayev for today's interrogation phase of Ruslan Asad and Rashad Hasanov and other NIDA members who are now accused of many grave crimes they didn't commit. As for NDI, every cent counts (as it rightly should) and holding an institution like NDI accountable of investing USD2million in a Facebook Revolution is simply outlandish. Perhaps this piece [az] by another blogger Ali Novruzov will bring further explanation to this.

There are still no news re. Rashad Hasanov.

***
Rashad Hasanov, member of NIDA movement and Ruslan Asad, NDI employee were arrested today by plain clothes policemen. Hasanov was taken earlier today, while Asad was detained around 5pm Baku time. Hasanov while being questioned by the Grave Crime Investigation Unit, Asadov's whereabouts are not known.

In addition, arrested leader of ReAl movement, Ilgar Mammadov's sentence was extended to addition two months.

There are rumors that OSCE might close its representative office.

***
There is information to Ruslan's present employer NDI (National Democratic Institute) and his status with the institution. According to some sources, Ruslan was fired from his job shortly after his detention on March 10th protests organized in Baku (to protest deaths of conscripts). Others (including NDI staff) claim he wasn't fired. Whether he was fired or not, that is not important at the moment. Whats more important is that this young man, open minded, well educated, outspoken and intelligent was taken by two men (who presented themselves as employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs) around 5pm today in bright day light near the building where NDI office is located. He was put in a car (Toyota) and taken away. Another reality of all this is that no one knows where he is. And that also another activist was arrested too. So my message to all those arguing over Ruslan's current status with NDI is to stop doing that and instead focus on gathering information and sharing it. 

Hunger Games and Aliyev Regime

Source: Google Images

What does one of the recent bestseller trilogies and Azerbaijan's well known human rights tyrant Aliyev have in common? Well, don't you think it's already obvious by the first sentence of this post? If not then let me draw some parallels here so as not to leave anyone in the dark...
 

For those of you who have already read the books would know what I mean if I say- Capitol, Panem, President Snow and districts. For those who haven't read the book here is a short scoop- Capitol is the "capital" of what was once upon a time somewhere in North America. "Panem" is the nation that lives in the Capitol and other districts. And President Snow is the tyrant/dictator ruling the whole of Panem. Now without spoiling the book or the story let me go back to the connection. 

As you already guessed- President Snow is no other but Ilham Aliyev. Capitol and Panem- well that's easy to figure out. And just like in Capitol where people live lavish life styles (not all but enough, where life moves at its paste, where buildings are high and sky is the limit) Baku fits the description just fine. But what is really extraordinary (I gotta' tip my hat off to the author) is the similarity of the ways in which President Snow and President Aliyev especially when it came to punishing, humiliating and what is more alarming- killing the dissidents and those who protested the system operated- cold blooded, threatening and uncanny. 

And of course, the "Hunger Games" are daily challenges Azerbaijani people have to face- dealing with violence (especially during rallies), being beaten up by the police (instead of tributes, though in our case, we might as well call our police forces some kind of special tributes, like the challenges and mayhem that would be introduced during the games by those who run the games from their computers). Of course there is less blood (at least visible one, though if we look at most recent cases of journalists and human rights advocates being beaten this might no longer be the case) and murder but overall, the parallel is there. In fact, they way individual districts are described (coal, miners, agriculture, iron and etc.) fits our regional districts, starving people (more or less as salaries are low and prices are high, agitated and strict police reporting to the capital and doing whatever it basically wants, should I go on? No, I think I will stop here for now... 

Now, the only thing missing in this parallel is the hero of the book, or the heroes of the book- the Mockingjay, Gale, Peeta and others. Unfortunately there ain't no Mockingjay in Azerbaijan but maybe one day we'll have one too- come out of its ashes, "the bird who was on fire". Who knows... For now however, we'll just have to do with what we have- President Snow/Aliyev, Capitol/Baku, Panem/Azerbaijanis.