2016 prison census - Azerbaijan: Araz Guliyev
| Publisher | Committee to Protect Journalists |
| Publication Date | 1 December 2016 |
| Cite as | Committee to Protect Journalists, 2016 prison census - Azerbaijan: Araz Guliyev, 1 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/586cb8fda.html [accessed 5 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
| Araz Guliyev, Xeber 44 | |
|---|---|
| Medium: | Internet |
| Charge: | Retaliatory |
| Imprisoned: | September 8, 2012 |
Guliyev, chief editor of news website Xeber 44, was arrested on hooliganism charges in September 2012 while reporting on a protest in the southeastern city of Masally, news reports said. Residents were protesting about dancers at a festival who they claimed were not properly clothed, reports said. Police arrested the demonstrators, who were calling on the festival organizers to respect religious traditions.
During Guliyev's pretrial detention, authorities expanded his charges to include "illegal possession, storage, and transportation of firearms," "participation in activities that disrupt public order," "inciting ethnic and religious hatred," "resisting authority," and "offensive action against the flag and emblem of Azerbaijan."
Guliyev's brother, Azer, told the independent regional news website Kavkazsky Uzel that his brother's imprisonment could be related to his coverage of protests against an official ban on headscarves and veils in public schools. Xeber 44 covers news about religious life in Azerbaijan and international events in the Islamic world. The journalist's lawyer told Kavkazsky Uzel that investigators claimed to have found a grenade while searching Guliyev's home, but his lawyer said the investigators had planted it.
In April 2013, the Lankaran Court on Grave Crimes convicted Guliyev of all charges and sentenced him to eight years in prison.
Guliyev's lawyer, Fariz Namazli, told the local press freedom organization Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety that the charges against the journalist were not substantiated in court and that the testimony of witnesses conflicted. The lawyer said that Guliyev had been beaten by authorities after his arrest and that he was not immediately granted access to a lawyer.
News reports said that Guliyev filed an appeal, which was denied by regional courts. In July 2014, the Supreme Court of Azerbaijan upheld the journalist's sentence. In Azerbaijan, a case cannot be appealed once the Supreme Court has ruled.
Guliyev was being held at Prison No. 14, outside Baku, according to Kavkazsky Uzel and an August 2014 report on political prisoners in Azerbaijan by a group of lawyers, human rights defenders, and non-governmental organizations. In late 2016, CPJ could not determine the state of his health.
