PEN Belarus joins the statement by Maria Dahle, Human Rights House Foundation’s Director in reaction to today’s sentencing of human rights defender Anar Mammadli in Azerbaijan.
“Today marks a day of deep sorrow and disgrace as Anar Mammadli, one of Azerbaijan’s leading human rights defenders and a close and longstanding colleague of ours, has been sentenced to 13 years in prison.
“There is no mistaking what this sentencing is: punishment for Mammadli’s independent and legitimate work defending human rights, monitoring elections and advocating for democracy in his home country. The charges against him are entirely politically motivated, and his conviction is a clear act of retaliation by the Azerbaijani authorities.
“For almost three decades, Mammadli has bravely raised the alarm over the decline of democracy and rights protection in Azerbaijan. For this work, he already spent two and a half years as a political prisoner before his release in 2016. But this did not stop him. He continued his election observation work, as well as international advocacy, calling for freedom for political prisoners and for a stronger legal and political environment for human rights defenders. His courage and contribution to human rights have been recognised internationally, including through the Council of Europe’s prestigious Václav Havel Human Rights Prize.
“His sentencing comes amid one of the most severe periods of political repression in Azerbaijan’s recent history. It is part of a wider crackdown on what remains of independent civil society in the country, with journalists, activists, members of academia and human rights defenders facing politically motivated detentions, abuse, criminal charges and exile.
“We call on the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Anar Mammadli and all those imprisoned for exercising their fundamental rights with peaceful means. We urge the international community and states with relations to Azerbaijan to use every available diplomatic and political pressure to demand their release.
“Anar Mammadli must not become another forgotten political prisoner. His freedom and the freedom of Azerbaijan’s independent civil society must be protected.”
Notes to Editors
- Anar Mammadli is a prominent Azerbaijani human rights defender and previous political prisoner. Mammadli is the founder of the Election Monitoring and Democracy Studies Center, a member organisation of Human Rights House Azerbaijan (EMDS).
- In 2014, he won the prestigious Václav Havel Human Rights Prize, awarded by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (CoE).
- In 2013, Mammadli was illegally convicted and imprisoned for his election-related work following the presidential elections in Azerbaijan. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) found his detention to be politically motivated, illegal and aimed at silencing and punishing him “as a civil society activist for his activities in the area of electoral monitoring”. He was released in 2016 after spending 2,5 years as a political prisoner (ECHR).
- Mammadli’s second arrest in April 2024 began following his public advocacy activities at the UN Human Rights Council and OSCE in early 2024. He was detained based on fabricated charges of, among others, smuggling, illegal entrepreneurship, money laundering and tax evasion (OHCHR).
- 2023 marked the start of a second brutal crack-down against free media and remaining fragments of the independent civil society in Azerbaijan. Since then, over 50 journalists, activists and human rights defenders have been put behind bars on false accusations with reports of alleged torture, ill-treatment and other violations of the rights of detainees (FVC).
- Read more about Anar Mammadli here.
- Photos can be downloaded for free use here.
For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact
- HRHF communications team: [email protected], +4741613766