Azerbaijan: First day of Baku blogger trial features state witness with faulty memory

9/16/09

Testimony began on September 16 in the high-profile prosecution of two Azerbaijani youth activists and bloggers on charges of hooliganism. Defense attorneys ridiculed one of the government's chief witnesses, alleging that officials didn't do a good job in coaching his responses. The trial is seen by civil society activists both inside and outside Azerbaijan as a pivotal case concerning free speech in the South Caucasus country.

Twenty-six-year-old Adnan Hajizade, a co-founder of the OL (To Be) youth movement, and 30-year-old Emin Milli, a co-founder of the online Alumni Network, were arrested on July 8 for hooliganism after they allegedly started a brawl in a Baku cafe. International organizations have roundly criticized the prosecution as politically motivated, designed to muzzle two young critics of President Ilham Aliyev's administration.

Over 100 supporters gathered on the sidewalk in front of the courthouse jockeying to gain entrance to the proceedings. Despite defense requests for a larger courtroom, the hearing was held in a small room with little space for observers. After permitting family and international observers to enter, court guards padlocked the front doors to the courtroom.

Before the trial, several members of the Youth Rights Protection Committee, an organization started to support Hajizade and Milli, began to pass out t-shirts which said in Azerbaijani, "I am a hooligan, too." Law enforcement agents in plainclothes immediately seized several youth, shoving them into the back of a police car. Some supporters avoided arrest by removing their t-shirts. One young woman was threatened by a police officer who warned her "Let me take [the shirt] or I'll rip it off."

Many international organizations and supporters of the bloggers insist this trial is not about an act of violence, but about free speech. Hajizade and Milli had been openly critical of the government. By arresting youth for wearing t-shirts in support of the defendants, the authorities only added to that impression, observed several supporters.

"It couldn't get more absurd," said Minai Massimova, a childhood friend of Hajizade and Milli. Others in the crowed shouted, "shameful" and "horrible" as the youth were taken away.

Inside the courtroom, Vasul Mammadov, one of the alleged victims, was questioned for over an hour about the July incident at the Baku restaurant. He was evasive in answering many questions, drawing stinging remarks from defense attorneys. After one of his many vague answers, Milli's lawyer Elton Guliyev said to Mammadov, "[You can't answer] because you haven't been taught the answer to the question."

Defense attorneys attempted to portray Mammadov's story as incoherent and inconsistent. Mammadov appeared to struggle as a witness, often claiming he could not recall events or simply stating "I don't know" in response many of the defense's questions.

The prosecution, meanwhile, sought to paint a picture of Hajizade and Milli as aggressors, describing the men as loud and foul-mouthed.

In a September 15 statement, the international media watchdog Reporters Without Borders called for the court to release the two men. Hajizade and Milli "were arrested for political reasons and the charges brought against them are clearly baseless. We are outraged by the violation of their defense rights and the judicia[l] (sic) bias that marked the first hearing," the organization said.

For human rights activists, the case has served as a high-profile example of Azerbaijan's failure to cultivate an independent judiciary. In an open letter to Judge Araz Huseynov sent days before the first day of testimony, Azerbaijani human rights activist Leyla Yunus appealed to the judge to "perform your ... duty with honesty and professionalism" and "try the case publicly on the basis of law[s] and right[s]."

The most recent US State Department Human Rights Report characterized Azerbaijan's judiciary as being subservient to the will of the executive branch. "Although the law provides for an independent judiciary, in practice judges did not function independently of the executive branch. The judiciary remained corrupt and inefficient," the report said.

Bart Woord, secretary general of the London-based International Federation of Liberal Youth, which works on youth human rights issues, has followed the Hajizade and Milli case closely and expressed doubt as to whether the men could ever be afforded due process. "There is no such thing as a fair trial if the run-up to it has already been marred with so many irregularities and executive mingling," he said.

Journalists continued to be excluded from the courtroom. Police also attempted to keep media at a distance, as the defendants exited the courtroom. Law-enforcement authorities backed an ambulance up to the door so the defendants would not walk by the many cameras.

As Hajizade and Milli exited the courtroom and were corralled into the waiting ambulance, the crowd chanted: "Freedom!" Testimony is scheduled to resume on September 18.