The arrest of journalist Rauf Mirkadyrov and demands that NGO leaders cease contacts with Armenian colleagues have caused confusion in Azerbaijani society. NGO members are now facing a dilemma: should they continue doing their job by risking arrests or close?
ANN.Az has interviewed Avaz Hasanov, director of the non-governmental Center for Humanitarian Research.
- At a recent press conference in Baku, journalists asked the presidents of Azerbaijan and France about Rauf Mirkadyrov’s arrest and the brief detention of human rights activist Leyla Yunus. President Aliyev said it was Azerbaijan's domestic affair. Do you agree with him?
- In recent years, it has become a trend to argue that the issue of human rights is an internal affair of a state. This has been said by the presidents of Syria, Morocco and others wanting to distort the principle of unlimited protection of human rights as required by international conventions. They want to make sure that human rights are considered an internal affair of a state.
I believe that human rights is a value that knows no borders, and the Azerbaijani legislation needs to be brought in line with international law in keeping with conventions on human rights, to which Azerbaijan is a signatory.
Of course, our government is interested in making sure that nobody can criticize it. In the past 10 years, Aliyev has said that it is too early to speak about human rights so long as the economic situation does not improve and people’s living standards remain low.
I am sure that if the government had paid due attention to the basic human rights, it would have been able to establish a welfare state. Without this, any force can destroy our country and lead to mass protests and revolution. In a country where all rights of people are protected, causing mass protests and bring people into the streets are impossible. We have the same people who are not protected from anything. We have 20 per cent our land captured. People believe that the government is trampling on all rights and wants to destroy them.
- People are discussing Rauf’s arrest and the persecution of Leyla Yunus. You know these people, you have worked with them. Rauf said from the detention center that he was arrested on orders from Russia. He refuses to testify. Journalist Azer Rashidoglu, who has been questioned on the case, has said that more arrests will follow. Yunus has said Rauf’s arrest is aimed at destroying civil society in Azerbaijan. Could Rauf be an Armenian spy?
- Mirkadirov’s words are still reverberates in my ears. While in prison, he said through his lawyer: Those who put me in jail will answer before God. In other words, Rauf is completely innocent.
It is difficult to find another journalist in Azerbaijan who can confront our enemies as Rauf did, who is read and cited so much abroad. Former Russian diplomat and pro-Armenian political scientist Kazimirov wrote three articles in response to a single article by Rauf. I used to read Zerkalo only because of Rauf and his articles about Karabakh. He is the only journalist who skillfully used the available literature on the topic.
I wouldn’t say that he knew Rauf very well. I met him twice during conferences. But I can say that the spying charge brought against him is absurd. He was arrested because he was at the wrong time in the wrong place. Living in Ankara, he criticized Erdogan. I read Twitter postings by a Turkish journalist who said that Rauf is a strong critic of Erdogan and demonstrates dirty facts about his party. In his articles, Rauf attacked Putin despite the fact that Zerkalo is quite a balanced newspaper. His last 10 articles - "Putin and Hitler", for instance – may indicate that Rauf was arrested at a Russian request.
But it is not clear to me whom Rauf caused problems in Azerbaijan. He was very correct in his articles about Ilham Aliyev, never touched the ruling family and adhered to ethical standards.
- Investigators are probably looking into contacts of Mirkadyrov and Yunus, who have worked closely with Armenian human rights activist Laura Baghdasaryan. Police have already searched the offices of Yunus and her colleague Matanat Azizova. Events can also touch you.
- I have not been involved in any dealings with Yunus. Before his deportation from Turkey, Rauf’s accreditation was revoked and he and his family wanted to move to Georgia. But he was forced to return to Baku, where Rauf was arrested on April 12 at the airport. After his arrest, they (authorities) started to look for a pretext for their move.
If I had not been aware of Mirkadyrov’s potential, I would have thought that any of us could be arrested. Now that they brought charges against Mirkadirov, they will have to answer before God. Rauf Mirkadyrov is not Ruslan Bashirli.
Investigators have found the best excuse they could to arrest Mirkadyrov, i.e. his dealings with Leyla Yunus, who worked together with her Armenian colleague Laura Baghdasaryan. But Rauf’s arrest does not mean that Leyla too will be arrested. Arresting all members of civil society would be absurd.
I think Leyla’s statement that Rauf was arrested to pave the way for her own arrest was a fatal blow to Rauf. It politicized Mirkadirov's case. The show harmed Rauf. Had she managed to flee abroad, that would have meant that
mean that one spy was captured and the other fled. Even if Layla had planned to join an overseas conference beforehand, she should not have left (after Rauf's arrest) so as not to irritate the authorities.
- Do you think there will be more arrests of civil society activists?
- I may be wrong, but my 20 years of NGO experience tells me that NGO activists will not be arrested. If would have been absurd if they did. You cannot destroy the civil society in Azerbaijan. There is no serious pressure on them. Only NGOs that have not registered with the authorities are coming under pressure. The parliament passed a law, banning NGOs from functioning without registration. Now the authorities want to demonstrate that you cannot even think of operating without registration.
Bakudaily.az
