SAID DADASHBAYLI GROUP CASE IN EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS

The cases against five members of the so-called Said Dadashbayli group are currently in European Court of Human Rights, reported Dadashbayli`s mother Gatiba Garayeva in a press conference at IRFS press center. Her son's case and that of one of the other accused, Mikayil Idrisov, have been waiting at the ECHR for two years. The three others cases against Samir Hajiyev, Jeyhun Aliyev and Farid Agayev were accepted by the ECHR this year. She said that the five men have each served close to five years in prison - the sentence was handed down on December 10, 2007. But it remains unclear for what they were arrested.

"We have repeatedly appealed to the president, the first lady, the Ombudsman, international organizations, and local human rights defenders, with no result. We, the mothers and wives of the prisoners, want to know why local human rights defenders are not doing anything. Why are their names not mentioned in the reports by the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Thomas Hammarberg? The cases of our children are part of a political injective, but our sons are not considered political prisoners," said Gatiba Garayeva.

According to her, they met with the Ombudsman, the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights Rabiyat Aslanova, and US Ambassador Matthew Bryza, but the meetings have proved fruitless.

Mikail Idrisov's mother Lubov Idrisova said, "Our children know a few languages, some of them were trained abroad, and they successfully worked in foreign companies. They are religious followers and are interested in literature. Is this a crime?"

The convicts were charged under Articles 274 (high treason), 218 (creating criminal association), 278 (forcible overthrow of the government), and so on.

The charges did not even include the word "attempt." All of this was seen as a fait accompli, although no power was ever toppled. "How can they be blamed for a violent overthrow of the government, if no attempt was made? We still do not know what they are accusing our children of doing," said Idrisova.

The arrests of 11 members of the Dadashbeyli group began on January 13, 2007. The case was led by the Ministry of National Security. The judge in the Court of Grave Crimes, Enver Seyidov, sentenced them to lengthy prison terms. Two men were sentenced to 12 years, four to 13 years, and and four to 14 years.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• SAID
• DADASHBAYLI
• GROUP
• CASE
• IN
• EUROPEAN
• COURT
• OF
• HUMAN
• RIGHTS