Human rights defender Elchin Mammad must be freed!

Paris-Geneva, September 30, 2020 - For the past six months, human rights lawyer and journalist Elchin Mammad has remained arbitrarily detained under trumped-up charges. Since then his health condition has kept deteriorating, putting his life at risk in the Covid-19 context. The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (an OMCT-FIDH partnership) urges the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately and unconditionally release him.

Six months ago, on March 30, 2020, Elchin Mammad was arbitrarilyarrested by the police at his home in the city of Sumgait, following thepublication online of a critical report on the human rights situation inAzerbaijan. Elchin Mammad is a human rights lawyer, President of the SocialUnion of Legal Education of Sumgait Youth (SULESY), an NGO providing free legalassistance to low income families and non-profits, as well as theEditor-in-chief of the newspaper Yukselish Namine, which publishesarticles on human rights concerns in the country.

On March 31, the Sumgait City Court remanded Elchin Mammad in custody atShuvalan Pre-Trial Detention Center No.3 for three months as a criminal suspectunder Article 177.2.4 of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan (“theft causingsignificant damage”), after the police claimed to have found stolen jewelleryat his office. Additional charges under Article 228. 1 of the Criminal Code(“illegal purchase and possession of firearm accessories”) were subsequentlybrought against him, as the police allegedly found ammunitions during a secondsearch of the SULESY offices while he was in detention.

Elchin Mammad was to be released on June 30, 2020. Yet he remains indetention as of today, as the Sumgait City Court rejected on several occasionshis lawyer’s request for him to be placed under house arrest, extending hisdetention on remand for the duration of the trial.

Fears for the health of Elchin Mammad, who suffers from Hepatitis C,remain high given the overcrowding and poor prison conditions in Azerbaijan andthe high risk of contracting Covid-19. The Observatory is highly concerned thathis health has seriously deteriorated while in detention, as he has developedkidney issues and has also experienced swollen legs.

The Observatory strongly condemns the arbitrary detention and judicialharassment of Elchin Mammad, which appears to be only aimed at punishing himfor his legitimate human rights activities.

The Observatory reiterates its call on the authorities of Azerbaijan torelease Elchin Mammad immediately and unconditionally and to guarantee in allcircumstances his physical integrity and psychological well-being.

The Observatory further urges the authorities to put an end to any act of harassment, includingat the judicial level, against him and all human rights defenders in thecountry.

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (theObservatory) was created in 1997 by the World Organisation Against Torture(OMCT) and FIDH. The objective of this programme is to intervene to prevent orremedy situations of repression against human rights defenders. OMCT and FIDHare both members of ProtectDefenders.eu, the European Union Human RightsDefenders Mechanism implemented by international civil society.