AZERBAIJAN: 8 ½ Year Sentence upheld
13 June 2008
RAN 27/07 Update # 4
On 3 June 2008 the Azerbaijani Supreme Court upheld the decision taken by the appellate court of 16 January 2008, Eynulla Fatullayev, who is serving an eight and a half year sentence on charges linked to his critical reporting. The Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN considers the continued detention of Eynulla Fatullayev to be a breach of international standards guaranteeing freedom of expression and calls for his immediate release.
Eynulla Fatullayev, editor of Russian language weekly Realny Azerbaijan and the Azeri language weekly Gündelike Azerbaijan, was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison on 30 October 2007 on charges of terrorism and inciting ethnic hatred under article 214 of the Azeri Penal Code. He is currently being held in a prison just outside Baku.
Eynulla Fatullayev is Honorary Member of Lichtenstein PEN Centre.
For background information, please se the earlier Writers in Prison Committee alert on Eynulla Fatullayev:
http://www.internationalpen.org.uk/internationalpen/index.cfm?objectid=F71A5127-E0C4-ED84-0F29610368537E06
Please send appeals
Calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Eynullah Fatullayev;
Referring to the fact that his continued imprisonment is in clear breach of Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Addresses
President
Ilham Aliyev
Office of the President of the Azerbaijan Republic
19 Istiqlaliyyat Street
Baku AZ1066 Azerbaijan
Fax: 00 994 12 492 0625
Email: president@gov.az
Minister of Internal Affairs
Lt.-Gen. Ramil Usubov
Ministry of Internal Affairs
Husu Hajiyev Street 7, 370005 Baku, Azerbaijan
Fax: + 994 12 492 45 90
***Please contact us if sending appeals after 21 July 2008***
For further information please contact Sara Whyatt at the Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN, Brownlow House, 50-51 High Holborn, London WC1V 6ER Tel: +44 (0) 20 7405 0338 Fax: +44 (0) 20 74050339 Email: sara.whyatt@internationalpen.org.uk