Life in a prison cell of a political prisoner

Prison is a terrible place. It is worse if you are there not because of a particular crime you have committed but because of the crimes others have committed but trying to frame you. In Azerbaijan this phenomenon is called political prisoner and have many of these folks. In fact, we have more political prisoners than in Russia.

One of these prisoners is Ilgar Mammadov, presidential candidate, leader of a political movement. He was arrested after a visit to a town Ismayilli. In 2013 mass riots broke out there with people demanding attention to their grievances. And they had many. Poor infrastructure, corrupt administrative officers and so on. 

Mammadov went to see what was going on. The two was surrounded by the military (yes, the government in Baku was that afraid this might end up having a domino effect on other nearby regions as well). There was little information coming out. 

Mammadov was arrested shortly after his visit into Ismayilli. He was accused of organizing mass riots against the government and sentenced to seven years. 

But that is the story of many political prisoners. All sentenced on trumped charges, with no proof. 

People of Ismayilli would have never protested if they had better life standards, if they had better access to social services, and proper infrastructure. They would have not went on the streets had their administrative office was not a place of corruption and bribery but a place that actually dealt with people's problems and addressed their issues. But no, it was easier to jail political activists especially in the run up to the presidential elections to get red of competition and teach others a lesson. 

Mammadov's imprisonment however wasn't an end to silencing him and preventing him from continuing his political work. He has been beaten too. 

But in Azerbaijani prison, when a political prisoner is beaten, threaten, intimidated- it means golden stars for prison guard and the head of the prison from Baku's prosecutor office. Its as if they are assigned special homework. And beating is just one of the exercise assigned by the ruthless teacher. 

Mammadov's lawyer complained but it means nothing. 

It means so little that he was only seen by a doctor 5 days after he was beaten. 

Mammadov however thinks there is a reason behind these numerous attacks- to force him into signing a letter of pardon, apologizing. 

But apologizing for what? For wanting to change Azerbaijan for a better? For standing up for his rights and for the rights of others? For being an honest man? 

Official Baku proved on many occasions that none of the above really matter. It is only about consolidating more power, crushing down on more independent voices, and making sure people live in a constant state of fear.

The stability they show you

Perhaps, this is for the attention of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly, perhaps this is for the attention of human rights watch organizations, perhaps its for nobody's attention after all nobody cares really at policy and decision making level abroad about rights, freedoms of Azerbaijani people. 

So perhaps I am addressing very those members of the parliament who voted against the resolution on political prisoners not so long ago. I must share with you, dear apologists and avid supporters, the brutality of Azerbaijani government, its so called democracy and respect for its people. Surely, this is not the kind of stability our officials talk about when they meet in Brussels, Strasbourg or DC. And surely, this is not what they show you when they invite you to lavish parties at consulates, embassies, residences of Azerbaijani ambassadors abroad. 

This is from a letter shared by journalists arrested during the riots in Ismayilli:

They keep people from Quba in terrible conditions. Those trialed in Khachmaz as "organizers" of Quba events were taken from Baku (Kurdakhani) to Khachmaz on a cargo train. They traveled the night, cold, on the bare floor of the compartment reaching their destination in the morning. In Khachmaz they are held in a room with an open sewage. They are sticking bottles into the hole of the sewage just so not to go crazy.

Sounds like a scene from a movie, but its not. This is real. This is present day Azerbaijan, and this is the country you dear apologists say is doing pretty well and there are no issues with human rights abuse. But do not worry, you are safe and you can have as much caviar as you want. Because this is the imaginary stable Azerbaijan you prefer to believe in.

Behind the tradition of Caviar Diplomacy

Could it be that the there are some "forces" (as our beloved government officials would say) in the European Parliament and PACE who are keen supporters of the Aliyev regime? It seems so. And here is why. 

On January 23rd, PACE members voted on two key resolutions on Azerbaijan- one on the country's obligations and commitments as a member state and the second one a resolution on political prisoners. Unfortunately as I said earlier, the caviar seems to be more important than political prisoners and their rights in Azerbaijan and so while the initial resolution passed with 196 in favor and 13 against, the latter stayed on paper with only 79 in favor, and 125 against.

Among those who seem to be avid fans of caviar and other luxury, are European Parliament member- Bulgarian Socialist Kristian  Vigenin, who is also the Euronest chair. Last year he organized a discussion with Elkhan Suleymanov- head of Azerbaijani delegation to the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly, to discuss the "unjust" resolution passed by the EP on the eve of Eurovision on the human rights record of Azerbaijan. Needless to say there were no reps. from the civil society, or opposition from Azerbaijan. 

Elkhan Suleymanov, was also among anti- Strasser report. In his statement following the voting Suleymanov accused Strasser of "biased and hostile" approach towards Azerbaijan. 

Apart from Vigenin, there are few others too, such as Kristina Ojuland (Estonian Liberal); Inese Vaidere (Latvian conservative); and Vytautas Landsbergis (also Lithuanian conservative). Looks like caviar can work its magic on everyone, whether you are a liberal, a conservative or avid defender of human rights abuses elsewhere but in Azerbaijan. 

These are the known faces of anti-human rights resolutions passed before too. Such as the resolutions on Emin and Adnan; Bakhtiyar Hajiyev; Rafig Tagi (may he rest in peace) and the most recent one on human rights that was passed before the Eurovision. 

If you haven't read it already European Stability Initiative published a comprehensive report on this matter titled "Caviar Diplomacy: How Azerbaijan silenced the Council of Europe (Part 1)". It is available for free on their website.

In that report, there is also a list of the so- called "apologists" for Azerbaijani regime. Among these are Maltese Joseph Debono Grech, Spain's Pedro Agramunt, Belgium's Paul Wille, UK's Mike Hancock, and Germany's Eduard Lintner and others who over time made it possible for instances such as the head of the PACE election observation mission declare past elections in Azerbaijan meeting international and CoE standards.

Ironically, these past few weeks only proved the dire situation Azerbaijani people live in. Starting from the publicized death of a young conscript; angered merchants protesting increase in rent; frustrated and fed up residents of Ismayilli and finally the protests organized in solidarity with people in Ismayilli in Baku.

But then the comfort of their seats miles away and generous presents from their special friends makes the struggle of Azerbaijani people miniscule doesn't it? Priorities vary...