Sources: contact.az, kavkaz-uzel.ru, amnesty.org
The arrested leader of Republicanist Alternative Movement (ReAl) Ilgar Mammadov was subjected to beatings in prison, ReAl executive secretary Natig Jafarli told the press on July 30, 2015,
Caucasian Knot
reported.
“Those, who organized the attack against Ilgar Mammadov, made sure that there would be no traces of violence,” Jafarli stated. “Their aim was not to injure Ilgar Mammadov, but rather intimidate and frighten him. Ilgar Mammadov has long been forced to write a petition for pardon. They consistently made it clear that if he doesn’t sign a petition for pardon, he will not be released, and no appeals of the West or the European Court of Human Rights will help him.”
ReAl’s representatives demand that the Azerbaijani authorities implement the decisions of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe for Mammadov’s immediate release.
Mammadov was arrested on February 4, 2013, on charges of inciting mass violence, after he travelled to report on street riots which had broken out in northwest Azerbaijan the previous day.
Mammadov was sentenced to seven years in prison by the Sheki Court in Baku in March 2014. The European Court of Human Rights ruled in May 2014 that his arrest contravened the European Convention on Human Rights. The judgment became final on October 13, 2014, when the Strasbourg Court rejected the appeal from the government of Azerbaijan. The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe demanded his release “without delay” on December 4, 2014. This request was ignored.