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The European Games recently ended in Azerbaijan. Some independent analysts reported that the Games cost over $9 billion. Six thousand athletes competed in more than 20 sports in 18 various venues. However, there were also many negative reports about political activists who were barred from the country or jailed, according to an article published on the Italian outlet Lindro.it.

The article reads that the British human rights defender Emma Hughes, who criticized the activities of the oil company BP in Azerbaijan, was deported from Baku airport despite having accreditation for covering the European Games. The journalist Owen Gibson’s request for accreditation was denied, too. He had earlier made a report on corruption in Azerbaijan and repressions against the opposition. The human rights organization Amnesty International was barred from entering into the country on the eve of the European Games’ opening as it condemns Azerbaijan for having at least 20 prisoners of conscience. Earlier, Amnesty International had published a report “Azerbaijan: The Repression Games”. Moreover, the international organization also turned to the Italian Prime Minister, Matteo Renzi, asking not to forget about the human rights abuses in Azerbaijan during his meeting with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev.

The ruling regime in Azerbaijan claims Amnesty International did not observe the standard procedures of obtaining visas. “As if Amnesty has just begun travelling across the world and is not aware of all the rules of obtaining visas. The organization is clearly telling the truth while the Azerbaijanis are lying,” the author writes and notes that the problem of the journalists’ arrests has not addressed in Azerbaijan so far.

The journalist Khadija Ismayilova is arrested for her investigations of corruption. She is internationally recognized as one of the few heralds of freedom in Azerbaijan. The lawyer Intigam Aliyev, who introduced over 300 cases of human rights violations in Azerbaijan to the European Court, is jailed as well. Seymur Hazi is among the imprisoned journalists and was sentenced to 5 years in prison for hooliganism charges. An Azerbaijani NGO chairperson Leyla Yunus is kept in detention without any ground (she is gravely ill and her current state of health is unknown). Her husband, famous human rights defender in Azerbaijan, Arif Yunus, is also in prison.

According to Human Right Watch, what happened ahead of the European Games was “the worst crackdown the county has seen in the post-Soviet era”. In addition, the organization noted that at least 35 journalists and activists were arrested in Azerbaijan in 2014.
“I would like to end my article with the Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova’s words. ‘If we can continue to reject the thinking that is imposed on us and believe that human dignity is not for sale, then we are the winners, and they, our jailers both inside and outside prison, are the losers. Prison is not frightening for those trying to right a twisted scale, or for those who are subject to threats for doing the right thing. We see clearly what we must fight for. Life is very complicated, but sometimes we get lucky and are offered a clear choice, between truth and lies. Choose truth and help us,’” the author cites the Azerbaijani journalist’s letter sent from prison.
The President of Italy, Sergio Mattarella, who is receiving today Azerbaijan’s Presidnet Ilham Aliyev, as well as the Prime Minister of Italy, Matteo Renzi, who is meeting the Azerbaijani dictator in The Palazzo Chigi, are well aware of everything going on in Azerbaijan, according to the article.

“The journalist who is unjustly imprisoned in her own country tells us that the life is really complicated, yet it is not difficult to tell the truth from lie. She is in jail under the burden of that injustice to help us understand on whose side the truth is. Us, who call ourselves ‘democrats.’ We should not turn to the opposite side and must put an end to those suspicious ties. We must choose the truth to help Khadija; it is not difficult. The poison of lie is mortally dangerous, as well as the Azerbaijani lie which has captured Europe,” the Italian outlet writes.

On 12-28 June, Baku hosted the first European Games under the auspices of the European Olympic Committee. According to media estimates, the Games cost the Azerbaijani population $10 billion. They became a serious headache for the locals with numerous bans and property demolitions. The preparatory works for the Games were accompanied not only by numerous reports about “bugs” and accidents, but also crackdowns and brutal repressions against dissent.

On 5 December 2014, the well-known Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova was detained after being questioned at the prosecutor's office. Baku Sabail District Court made a decision to detain her on charges of incitement to suicide. The arrest of Ismayilova has been followed by a wave of condemning statements by a number of international organizations and influential representatives from various states. Protests have been organized in her support in various countries; and prominent international outlets released articles covering the topic. On 13 February 2015, the Grave Crimes Investigation Department of Azerbaijan Prosecutor General's Office charged the journalist under articles 179.3.2 (large-scale appropriation), 192.2.2 (illegal entrepreneurship with large income) and 308.2 (abuse of power with grave consequences) of Criminal Code of Azerbaijan. The journalist was fined while in jail. She faces up to 12 years in prison. In early April, Azerbaijani journalist Tural Mustafayev – under whose complaint Khadija Ismayilova had been arrested last December – wrote a letter to Zakir Garalov, the Prosecutor General of Azerbaijan, saying that he wanted to withdraw his appeal. When asked why he had lodged an accusation, Mustafa told the journalist that he was under emotional stress in that period.

Related:
OCCRP: Story of Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova exposing Aliyev clan corruption