AMBASSADOR RAISES HUMAN RIGHTS CASES WITH

UNCLAS BAKU 000582 SIPDIS SENSITIVE DEPT FOR EUR/CARC AND DRL E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM PREL AJ SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR RAISES HUMAN RIGHTS CASES WITH PRESIDENTIAL ADVISOR ALI HASANOV REF: A. BAKU 557 ¶B. BAKU 397 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED; NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION. ¶1. (SBU) On June 19, the Ambassador raised the case of Azadliq newspaper reporter Agil Khalil with Presidential Advisor Ali Hasanov. Khalil, who had been beaten and stabbed following his investigative reporting on a suspect land deal (ref a),told the press that he was once again prevented from leaving Azerbaijan on June 19. In response to the Ambassador's concerns, Hasanov said that, under Azerbaijani law, the Prosecutor General can take steps to prevent someone involved in a criminal case from leaving the country. Hasanov Qd that Khalil is involved in the GOAJ's criminal case against Sergey Strekhalin, whom the GOAJ says admitted to stabbing Khalil onQrch 13 as part of a homosexual lovers' spat. Hasanov said Strekhalin's trial would begin June 20 and would be over "in three days," at which point Khalil would be free to leave Azerbaijan. (Comment: OSCE legal experts told us that, based on their discussions with the Prosecutor General's Office, they believe the GOAJ has no legal basis to prevent Khalil from leaving the country. Khalil currently does not face any criminal charges and presumably is involved in Strekhalin's case only as a wQness.) ¶2. (SBU) The Ambassador also expressed our concern regarding the June 14 detention and beating of Institute for Reporter Freedom and Safety Director Emin Huseynov (ref b),and urged the GOAJ to conduct an independent investigation of the incident. Hasanov said that President Aliyev had instructed him to look into the issue; Hasanov subsequently called Press Council Chair Aflatun Amashov in to discuss the case. The Press Council agreed to investigate Huseynov's detention and beating as soon as its congress, scheduled for the week of June 23, is over. Hasanov said he hoped to discuss the investigation with Embassy PAO. ¶3. (SBU) The Ambassador also urged the GOAJ to take steps to reregister the Election Monitoring Center (EMC). Hasanov responded that, even without formal Ministry of Justice (MOJ) registration, EMC will be able to observe and report on the October presidential election just as it had done in the past. When the Ambassador noted that EMC observers working without the benefit of MOJ registration would be unable to register formal complaints about the electoral process, Hasanov urged DRL A/S Kramer to raise this point in his upcoming meeting with President Aliyev. DERSE