Azerbaijani bloggers' conviction upheld by supreme court

Yesterday, the Azerbaijani Supreme Court upheld the conviction of bloggers Emin Milli and Adnan Hajizade.

The pair were arrested on hooliganism charges in July 2009. Hajizade was sentenced to two years in prison and Milli was sentenced to two and a half.

As well as allegations that the trial was unfair, there is a belief that the authorities wanted to punish Emin Milli and Adnan Hajizade for their criticism of the government, including this spoof news conference:



During the trial, the court refused to call the alleged victims in the case, Vusal Mammadov and Babak Huseynov, and Public Prosecutor Gurban Mehbaliyev commented that the defence lawyers were trying to "politicize the case", according to News.Az.

Lawyers for the pair now plan to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.

Hajizada's father, Hikmet Hajizada, told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: "It is a political case...Emin Milli and Adnan Hajizada are political prisoners."

Agnès Callamard, executive director of human rights organisation Article 19, says: "Milli and Hajizade are clearly in prison for exercising their right to freedom of expression...Yesterday's ruling demonstrates the lack of independence of the Azerbaijani judiciary".