London:
AlJazeera's reportage on arrest of youth leaders
AlJazeera channel prepared a reportage on arrest of youth movements activists and blogger Adnan Hajizada and Emin Milli.
France24's reportage on youth activits arrest
France24 TV channel prepared a reportage on arrest of youth movements activists and blogger Adnan Hajizada and Emin Milli.
Bloomberg - Mulish Behavior In Azerbaijan
The ad is for the government which is accuse of wasting money to import donkeys (Bloomberg News)
Fabien, Pauline, Jean-Mathieu, Olga, Aurore, Charlotte, Manolya, Emeline, Violaine, Mélissa, Armelle
France:
Emin's bio
Emin Milli (Abdullayev), 30 (was born on October 14, 1979) is a New Media activist and one of the leaders of non-political, non profit youth organization AN (Alumni Network). Graduate of Baku State University International law school, Emin Milli got his masters degree at the University of Saarbruecken European Law School.Emin Milli has worked before as a coordinator of International Republican Institute (IRI) in Azerbaijan (1999-2000), as a director of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES) in Azerbaijan (2002-2004). As a consultant and legal expert he was advising the Council of Europe (CoE) in matters concerning political prisoners in Azerbaijan in more than 40 cases (2002 -2004). In 2005 Milli has been political analyst assistant in OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission in Azerbaijan.
Emin Milli is the co-founder of AN Network established in 2005. He is one of the authors and organizers of the campaign - "Future Is What You Do Now" which contributed to the establishing and designing of the State Program to send 5 000 Azerbaijani students to the best Universities abroad. The latest decisions of the government to de-facto shut down foreign broadcasters (radios -"Liberty", "BBC" and "VOA") in combination with the scheduled referendum to be held on March 18, 2009 to establish unlimited Presidency in Azerbaijan made Emin Milli to initiate international campaign to increase international pressure on the government of Azerbaijan to reconsider its position on both issues.
Adnan's bio
Adnan Hajizadeh was born on 13th of July, 1983 in Baku. He graduated from Baku European Lyceum and is a FLEX (Future Leader Exchange Program) alum. He obtained a Bachelor degree in Political Science from Richmond University. Upon his return to Baku, Adnan continued his education to obtain a Bachelor degree in Law from Khazar University.After parliamentary elections of 2005, Adnan took part in mass protests against the rigged election results and was subject to physical pressure by the police. Adnan is one of the main founders of OL! Azerbaijani Youth Movement, a non-violent movement aimed at education and development of Azerbaijani youth. Adnan served in the Executive Board three times and he is also OL's External Affairs Coordinator. Adnan works at BP Azerbaijan, Communications and External Affairs Department. He is Internal Communications Officer.
In October 2007, Adnan went to the army to complete his military service. Upon his return from the army in October 2008 he continued his work both at BP Azerbaijan and at OL! Azerbaijan Youth Movement. Adnan is a prominent member of civil society and very well known among youth activists for his Youtube videos (look up: fuserlimon and olmedia). Some of these videos had an educational character for foreigners to know Azerbaijan better, while others carried a subtle political message (a video on imported donkey which cost $41,000 or the flowers on lampposts in the streets of Baku). Adnan was also the main brain power and implementer of several OL! campaigns such as "blue ribbon" or "ADR unites us!"
The latest report on the arrest of Emin Milli and Adnan Hajizada
Two youth activists and bloggers Emin Milli and Adnan Hajizada are in pre-trial detention on a charge of hooliganism, which activists and human rights defenders think are completely false. Sabayil Court judge Rauf Ahmedov denied the two an open hearing and condemned them to detention during the time of the investigation.
The youth were charged with hooliganism after what police claims “assault and inflicting injuries” to Babak Huseynov and Vusal Mammadov, who “tried to restore order in a restaurant”, where Milli, Hajizada and five other youth activists were dining on July 8. All seven activists said they had been talking about politics when one of the two athletic looking men sitting at the next table approached them and hit Emin Milli. Both Milli and Hajizada were injured, but have been denied proper medical examination in the police station, lawyers said. Police claimed Mammadov was hospitalized on July 9, as a result of the injuries, but a correspondent of RFE/RL Azerbaijani service did not find any record of this in the clinic hospital’s log.
Milli and Hajizada were denied a lawyer of their choice during the first interrogation despite the fact that their lawyer was waiting outside to be allowed to see the youth.
Gunter Nooke, German ombudsman visiting Baku was denied an opportunity to see Hajizada, who, according to the lawyer still showed injuries on his face. Nooke, who met the chairman of the Sabayil court before the sitting said the arrest of youth activists may negatively impact German-Azerbaijan relations.
Milli and Hajizada are active bloggers and both are believed to reach over ten thousand internet users in Azerbaijan.
Milli is also well known with critical speeches for different international and local audiences. He protested the Azerbaijani government for restricting basic freedoms, such as freedom of expression, as well as for lifting presidential term limit.
His most recent detention was on May 10th when he and other youth activists protested a celebration of Heydar Aliyev’s birthday with a Flower Festival just few days after the mass killing in the university.
Emin Milli is a founder of AN network, and Adnan Hajizada is a founder of OL! Youth movement. Both organizations are very outspoken about problems of youth in Azerbaijan. Both OL! and AN are committed to societal change through non-violent actions. Milli and Adnan are creators of ANTV and OLmedia - online media tools. They also actively distribute information through Facebook, Youtube and Twitter.
The arrest of the two youth was condemned by western diplomats. “OSCE representative for freedom of speech Miklos Harrazsty is watching the arrest of internet media activists” Alexis Shakhtakhtinski, deputy head of the OSCE office in Baku said to RFE/RL Azerbaijani service. He said he hopes the investigation will be conducted in fair and transparent manner.
Lawyers said they will submit appeal claim on July13. If the Appeal Court’s decision will not be fair, they will apply to the European Court of Human Rights.
The youth were charged with hooliganism after what police claims “assault and inflicting injuries” to Babak Huseynov and Vusal Mammadov, who “tried to restore order in a restaurant”, where Milli, Hajizada and five other youth activists were dining on July 8. All seven activists said they had been talking about politics when one of the two athletic looking men sitting at the next table approached them and hit Emin Milli. Both Milli and Hajizada were injured, but have been denied proper medical examination in the police station, lawyers said. Police claimed Mammadov was hospitalized on July 9, as a result of the injuries, but a correspondent of RFE/RL Azerbaijani service did not find any record of this in the clinic hospital’s log.
Milli and Hajizada were denied a lawyer of their choice during the first interrogation despite the fact that their lawyer was waiting outside to be allowed to see the youth.
Gunter Nooke, German ombudsman visiting Baku was denied an opportunity to see Hajizada, who, according to the lawyer still showed injuries on his face. Nooke, who met the chairman of the Sabayil court before the sitting said the arrest of youth activists may negatively impact German-Azerbaijan relations.
Milli and Hajizada are active bloggers and both are believed to reach over ten thousand internet users in Azerbaijan.
Milli is also well known with critical speeches for different international and local audiences. He protested the Azerbaijani government for restricting basic freedoms, such as freedom of expression, as well as for lifting presidential term limit.
His most recent detention was on May 10th when he and other youth activists protested a celebration of Heydar Aliyev’s birthday with a Flower Festival just few days after the mass killing in the university.
Emin Milli is a founder of AN network, and Adnan Hajizada is a founder of OL! Youth movement. Both organizations are very outspoken about problems of youth in Azerbaijan. Both OL! and AN are committed to societal change through non-violent actions. Milli and Adnan are creators of ANTV and OLmedia - online media tools. They also actively distribute information through Facebook, Youtube and Twitter.
The arrest of the two youth was condemned by western diplomats. “OSCE representative for freedom of speech Miklos Harrazsty is watching the arrest of internet media activists” Alexis Shakhtakhtinski, deputy head of the OSCE office in Baku said to RFE/RL Azerbaijani service. He said he hopes the investigation will be conducted in fair and transparent manner.
Lawyers said they will submit appeal claim on July13. If the Appeal Court’s decision will not be fair, they will apply to the European Court of Human Rights.