Azerbaijani Court Imposes Lengthy Sentences on Critics Living Abroad

On December 26, the Baku Grave Crimes Court finished a major case about Azerbaijani bloggers living in other countries. Judge Huseyn Huseynli led the court, which gave sentences to several outspoken critics who have been working from outside Azerbaijan.

Gurban Mammadov and Tural Sadigly each received 14-year prison sentences. Suleyman Suleymanli, Ordukhan Babirov (Teymurkhan), Orkhan Agayev, Rafael Piriyev, and Elshad Mammadov each got nine years in prison.

The group faced charges, which included fraud, making public calls for terrorism, and starting mass disorder. The bloggers were also found guilty of disobeying the law, taking part in or encouraging armed rebellion, and faking official documents. Khaqani Khalilov was named as the victim in the case during the trial.

This trial is one of many actions taken by Azerbaijani law enforcement against about 24 critics living abroad this year. Even though several of these cases have ended with guilty verdicts, the accused people say they are innocent. They say that these legal actions are politically driven as punishment for their online activity and public criticism of the government.