THREE OPPOSITION ACTIVISTS GO ON TRIAL IN AZERBAIJAN FOR ALLEGED ATTEMPT TO SEIZE POWER

AP Worldstream
Apr 05, 2006

Three Azerbaijani opposition youth activists went on trial Wednesday
for allegedly attempting to forcefully seize power in this ex-Soviet
republic and committing financial crimes, in a case government
opponents dismiss as politically motivated.

The three members of the Yeni Fikir (New Thought) youth group deny
the charges and have gone on a hunger strike to protest the decision
to hold court hearings behind closed doors, their lawyer Osman
Kyazimov said.

“They all declare that it is a political (attack) because of their
opposition views,” Kyazimov told The Associated Press. “We demand an
open trial so that everybody can see that.”

The envoy in Azerbaijan of the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe also criticized the closed-door nature of the
court hearings.

“The court’s ruling, which effectively makes the whole trial a state
secret, is regrettable and does nothing to restore public trust in
the judiciary,” said Maurizio Pavesi of the OSCE, a trans-Atlantic
security and democracy watchdog.

“It makes it impossible for the OSCE monitors to assess the fairness
of the proceedings and their compliance with international standards,”
he said in a statement.

The suspects were arrested in August and September in the run-up to
last year’s disputed parliamentary elections and have been charged
with attempting to stage a coup, evading taxes on foreign grants and
conducting illegal financial activity. They have also been accused of
cooperating with Armenian special services, Azerbaijan’s longtime foe.

Human rights groups dismissed the case as politically motivated. New
York-based Human Rights Watch has said the trial “casts an even darker
shadow on the 2005 parliamentary elections, which were blatantly
fraudulent.”

President Ilham Aliev’s government maintained its grip on parliament
in November’s elections, which handed the ruling party a majority in
the 125-seat legislature with the support of government-affiliated
independent lawmakers.

Western observers criticized the polls as flawed, but the United
States and European countries have not endorsed opposition demands
for new elections, fearful of upsetting stability in the oil-rich
Caspian Sea state that neighbors Iran.