La Specula

Exploring the Caucasus – Part I: Azerbaijan

Written by Letizia Gambini

Sunday, 27 September 2009

Facing up to 5 years of jail. Adnan Haijzade (28), co-founder of the
OL! movement and Emin Milli (30), co-founder of the Alumni Network
were arrested on July 8 for hooliganism after they allegedly started a
brawl in Baku’s restaurant `Lebanese’. They have been detained ever
since.

After having rejected the charges, claiming instead of being
themselves the victims of a verbal assault on the basis of divergent
political opinions, they have been kept detained. Strange enough,
because the two activist have no previous criminal record and don’t
show any visible intent to flee. In late August the prosecutors added
an additional charge: intentional infliction of minor bodily harm. On
September 4, after two month of seemingly unjustified pre-trial
detention, the two faced the first hearing of the trial, in one of the
breaks for the first time able to exchange some words with family and
friends.

The case has generated widespread attention on international media,
with rallies of support outside of Azerbaijan’s embassies in USA and
Europe. Twitter, Facebook and blogs help the thousands of followers to
get up-to-date information,despite of the media coverage ban ordered
by judge Araz Huseynov (who justified it in the name of protection of
privacy of the victims and confidential information).

Instrumentalisation or Repression

Many national and international human rights’ groups claim the arrests
and detention of Emin and Adnan have little to do with the early July
fight, and is instead designed to help smothering political dissent in
Azerbaijan.

One of the latest videos produced by the two blogger featured a fake
press conference in which a donkey was answering questions, praising
the government for its treatment of donkeys. The video, posted on
YouTube, has been seen over 42,000 times. It was seen by many as a
send-up of government news conferences, which critics say are
a events.

`The case against Haijzade and Milli raises deeply troubling questions
about the rule of law in Azerbaijan’, said Jennifer Windsor, Freedom
House executive director. `This case fits a disturbing pattern under
which independent journalists and others seeking to express themselves
end up in the criminal justice system’.

The Azerbaijan government strongly rejects any claims that this case
has political reasoning, blaming it on the Western media and activist
that have been `exaggerating the events’.

Several international institutions, have expressed their concern
towards the state of freedom of expression in Azerbaijan. On September
10, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Miklos Haraszti,
criticised the continued imprisonment of media workers in the country
and wished that the two bloggers may be released soon from detention.

The international freedom of press organization Reporters Withouth
Borders considers the freedom of speech in Azerbaijan to a 136 place,
behind countries such as Congo and Afghanistan.

One true friend, a strategic position

Azerbaijan holds a key position in the geopolitics of the
Caucasus. Rich in oil reserves, and strategicly placed in between
Russia, Georgia, Turkey, Armenia and Iran, the country has been
benefiting by a `special’ relationship with the US ever since the Fall
of the Soviet Union. In its short modern history the country has
demonstrated little democratic developments.

President Aliyev (son of the previous President Aliyev. Ahem.)
formally head of the Islamic Republic of Azerbaijan, and just awarded
with the privilege of a life-long mandate, after the recent (March
2009) abolishment of presidential term limits, shows signs of
insecurity, with his Minister of National Security engaging in a
crackdown of triviality against youth activists and other `outspoken’
citizens.

Azerbaijan has been described as the USA and West’s `one true friend’
on the Caspian, a key ally in the formerly known as the `war on terr
isi oil pipeline and BTE gas line, as well as the most important
`undecided’ in the potential Nabucco pipeline, which is supposed to
break Russia’s ability to control European gas supplies at whim.

However, the country has recently struck an agreement to put some gas
in Russia’s pipeline. And after years of being the posterchild for the
Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative by publishing its
national oil contracts, it made two deals without revealing the
details.

Eurovision: vote, vote! but¦

Other cases of suspect police actions have been reported during
summer. Azerbaijan seems to be getting a more and more paranoid state,
with 43 citizens detained and questioned because they voted by text
message for an Armenian singing group in Eurovision song contest
earlier this year (May 2009). Sympathizers with Armenia are not well
accepted in Azerbaijan.

This `forgotten’ conflict between the countries is another taboo for
regional media as well as for the international community. In the 15
years since the May 1994 ceasefire agreement put the conflict between
Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh
on hold, various peace proposals have faltered. Today, the borders
remain closed and the official international relationships frozen.

Baku, the place where `progressive Europe’ meets with `reactionary
Asia’

Recently been climbing the bestselling charts, the novel `Ali and
Nino: A Love Story’ is a good starting point for a better
understanding of the many contrasts that characterize Azerbaijan. The
novel is set in Baku, shortly before and after the Russian revolution
of 1917. It is here that Ali Khan Shirvanshir, descendant of a noble
Muslim family, and educated in a Russian boy’s college falls in love
with a Georgian Christian girl, Nino.

Just like the two worlds of Asia and Europe meet in the daily
struggles that the couple has to undergo to pursue their dream of
happiness, so the two identities of Azerbaijan continue to conflic
‘ and `reactionary Asia’ encounter, is lying the endless destiny of
Azerbaijan: being a bridge or a wall.

Article: Letizia Gambini

Photo: Robert Thompson
(September 27, 2009)
Last Updated ( Sunday, 27 September 2009 )

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress