Azerbaijani Court Keeps Bloggers in Jail

Baku's Court of Appeals on March 11 turned down a petition to release jailed bloggers and youth activists Adnan Hajizade and Emin Milli. The decision has sparked a fresh wave of criticism from human rights watchdogs about the pair's July 2009 detention on hooliganism charges.

Detailed reasons for denial of the appeal were not released. The state-run news agency Trend only reported that the court and prosecutors considered the petition "groundless."

The two men were arrested shortly after appearing in a video posted on YouTube in which Hajizade, dressed as donkey, held a mock press conference that took a swipe at President Ilham Aliyev's government.
Media and human rights advocacy groups maintain that the Azerbaijani authorities fabricated the charges to punish Hajizade and Milli for their criticism of the government.

"They were convicted on fabricated charges in a trial falling short of international standards for fairness solely because they were expressing their views," Amnesty International Deputy Program Director Andrea Huber said in a written statement on March 10.

In November 2009, a Baku district court handed down two and two-and-half-year jail sentences to Hajizade and Milli, respectively, for allegedly starting a brawl in a Baku café. Both men claim they were victims of an unprovoked attack.