Azerbaijan’s Disgraceful Five-Year Anniversary

Expand Ilgar Mammadov detained during a protest rally in Baku, 2013. © 2013 Turkhan Kerimov (RFE/RL) It’s unfathomable that Ilgar Mammadov, a prominent political analyst and one of Azerbaijan’s few alternative political voices, has been in prison for five years now. Ilgar was arrested shortly after he announced plans to challenge President Ilham Aliyev in the October 2013 presidential election. I have known Ilgar for nearly 15 years, and it’s hard to imagine a more law-abiding and peaceful person. Yet, the authorities convicted him of inciting violence and sentenced him to seven years in prison,…

© Human Rights Watch - dimanche 4 février 2018