There are 128 political prisoners in Azerbaijan, according to the updated unified list.
The Working Group For a Unified List of Political Prisoners published its latest
updated list
on 1 September. According the the group’s statement, the list was compiled “on the basis of documents obtained, monitoring of trials, and interviews” and includes the names of 128 people that are considered political prisoners.
The list includes 68 religious activists, 17 political and social activists, 14 people arrested for participating in protests, 10 religious believers from
Said Dadashbayli’s group
, nine journalists and bloggers, three “political hostages” (relatives of politicians), three people with excessive life sentences, two former state officials, one rights defender, and one poet.
The cases of two additional prisoners, Emin Sagiyev and Renad Aliyev, are currently being examined by the Working Group and a press release will be published when the group completes its inquiry.
The Working Group stated that as a result of intensified pressure and persecution of lawyers since late 2017, the advocacy activities of many lawyers who cooperated with the Working Group had been stopped. Human rights lawyer Yalchin Imanov has been banned from practicing law, while Fakhraddin Mehdiyev, Asabali Mustafayev, and Nemat Karimli have all been suspended from the Bar Association for one year each.
The Working Group For a Unified List of Political Prisoners includes former political prisoners, journalists and rights activists Intigam Aliyev, Anar Mammadli, Rasul Jafarov, Khalid Bagirov, Asabali Mustafayev, Khadija Ismayil, Shahvalad Chobanoghlu, Fariz Namazli, Rovshan Hajibayli and Samir Kazimli. The group examines the cases of prisoners that are considered to be political prisoners and publishes a report with information about them. The Working Group’s previous list was published in August 2017 and listed 160 political prisoners.
