AZADLIQ NEWSPAPER EDITOR SENTENCED TO FOUR YEARS'

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAKU 000219 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/07/2018 TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL KDEM AJ SUBJECT: AZADLIQ NEWSPAPER EDITOR SENTENCED TO FOUR YEARS' IMPRISONMENT REF: A. BAKU 1359 ¶B. BAKU 1398 Classified By: POL/ECON CHIEF JOAN POLASCHIK PER 1.4(B,D). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: On March 7, Baku's Yasamal District Court convicted opposition Azadliq newspaper Editor-In-Chief Ganimat Zahid of hooliganism and inflicting minor bodily harm and sentenced him to four years' imprisonment. In the same hearing, the court convicted Vusal Hasanov, the other party involved in the alleged scuffle, of hooliganism and sentenced him to six months' imprisonment. The trial was rife with minor due process violations, and Zahid's lawyers have already filed an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights, arguing that his pre-trial detention was illegal. Conflicting, often bizarre accounts of Hasanov's alleged injuries - the basis for the gravity of Zahid's charges - were the most controversial element of the trial. Three journalists are now imprisoned on charges that are not directly linked to their work; this hints at a new trend of using non-libel charges to exert pressure on journalists. END SUMMARY THE VERDICT -------------- ¶2. (U) On March 7, with no advance notice to lawyers working on the case, Baku's Yasamal District Court convicted opposition Azadliq newspaper Editor-In-Chief Ganimat Zahid of hooliganism (criminal code article 221.1) and "deliberately inflicting minor bodily injury in a way dangerous to the public or of a hooliganistic nature" (criminal code article 127.2.3). In the same hearing, the court convicted Vusal Hasanov, the other party involved in the alleged November 7 scuffle (ref a),of hooliganism and sentenced him to six months' imprisonment; combined with a previous conviction, Hasanov will serve one and a half years in prison. The Prosecutor had asked for five years' imprisonment for Zahid and two for Hasanov; Zahid had pleaded "not guilty" and Hasanov had pleaded "partially guilty." Zahid's defense attorneys have yet to see the verdict, and were told they would receive it on March 11 (the next working day). (NOTE: Under Azerbaijani law, it is not illegal to issue a verdict without the defendant's lawyers present.) His attorneys have already filed an appeal with the European Court of Human Rights, arguing that Zahid's pre-trial detention was illegal. TRIAL PROCEEDINGS -------------- ¶3. (SBU) According to Zahid's lawyers, at approximately 10:00 on March 7, Yasamal District Court officials reported that the next trial session had not been set. However, the lawyers later discovered that court bailiffs had received an order the evening of March 6 to bring Zahid and Hasanov to the court the following morning. The last previous trial session was at 11:00 on March 5, after the judge had postponed the hearing three times, once for unspecified reasons, and twice because she reportedly was ill. There was a robust international presence at the courthouse for each of the postponed trial sessions and during the final substantive session, including Emboffs, representatives from the OSCE, the UK Embassy, the Norwegian Embassy, and the French Embassy. ¶4. (SBU) The trial, in which the substantive proceedings began on January 15, was unusually dramatic by Azerbaijani standards and was rife with minor due process violations. Judge Sudaba Mammadova did not have firm control over the proceedings, and often allowed Hasanov to shout and interrupt trial proceedings, including witnesses' testimony. Zahid's lawyers were permitted to argue at length directly with Hasanov on several occasions, and the lawyers, the Prosecutor, and the defendants often were permitted to speak out of order. Although Zahid was the defendant charged with the more serious crime, Hasanov was kept in a locked cage throughout the trial, while Zahid sat quietly in a chair as a court bailiff kept watch. ¶5. (U) Sevgilade Guliyeva, the woman who instigated the alleged November 7 scuffle, testified that Zahid had insulted her as she passed him in the building that houses Azadliq newspaper's office. However, the only specific example Guliyeva provided was that Zahid had said "you're as beautiful as the flower in your hand," which she found offensive, at which point Hasanov intervened. Zahid denied that he said anything to Guliyeva. According to Hasanov, the altercation started when Zahid slapped him; Hasanov said that he in turn slapped Zahid, who then began "beating" him. Zahid's lawyers claimed that Guliyeva was coerced into participating in the incident because of an alleged theft conviction in the Mingechevir region. HASANOV'S MYSTERIOUS INJURIES... -------------- ¶6. (C) The severity of Zahid's charges is due to the extent of Hasanov's alleged injuries. The many conflicting stories surrounding Hasanov's alleged injuries led many observers to doubt the veracity of the case against Zahid. While the Prosecutor claimed that Zahid had inflicted injury upon Hasanov to the extent that he suffered a concussion, at no point did Hasanov actually state this. Rather, Hasanov said that following the alleged altercation, he had been hospitalized for spinal problems and "neurosis," which he later described as being related to aggression. He had trouble remembering at which hospital he had been treated and the dates of his hospitalization. Further, in a February 29 meeting with Poloff, Colonel Habil Alishanov, the Chief of the Ministry of Internal Affairs' Main Investigation Department - which had investigated the alleged scuffle - said that Zahid had broken Hasanov's jaw. There was no mention of a broken jaw during the trial, and Hasanov had no outward indication of having had his jaw broken. ...AND HIS MURKY PAST -------------- ¶7. (U) Zahid's defense claimed they had seen photos of Hasanov from 2004 in a police uniform, and several of Zahid's supporters hinted that Hasanov had a history of harassing other opposition figures. Hasanov denied working for the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but testified that he had worked in "intelligence." At one point, Hasanov said he had authored several poems and articles that were published in Azadliq newspaper, but claimed that he had not known it was a newspaper. The 29-year old had an athletic physique, and seemed angry and prone to emotional outbursts throughout the trial. Hasanov had an unspecified previous conviction. COMMENT -------------- ¶8. (C) Zahid's conviction makes him Azerbaijan's third imprisoned journalist; he joins his brother, satirical journalist Mirza Sakit, and Realny Azerbaijan and Gundelik Azerbaijan newspapers' Editor-In-Chief Eynulla Fatullayev behind bars. All three are imprisoned on charges -- narcotics possession, supporting terrorism, and hooliganism -- that are not directly linked to their work as journalists, yet hint at a new trend of using non-libel charges to exert pressure on journalists. Zahid's conviction comes on the eve of the March 13 Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Human Rights Bureau meeting in Paris, during which a special rapporteur is expected to be appointed to examine the political prisoner situation in Azerbaijan. Zahid's conviction likely will be a focus of attention at the meeting. DERSE