Civil Disobedience Campaign - READ AND SHARE
Khadija Ismayil
Civil Society activists launch civil disobedience campaign against laws limiting free assemblies
We are a group of the participants of peaceful protest actions held in Fountains Square on January 12, 2013 and in Sahil park on January 26, 2013 in capital Baku.
Although we didn’t commit any violence nor did anything to provoke the police to necessitate interference, police applied excessive use of force and arbitrarily detained us. The Sabail and Nasimi district courts continued injustice with their unlawful decisions to fine us with hefty amounts:
Khadija Ismayilova – 400 AZN (500 USD)
Tural Abbasli (Musavat Party) - 600 AZN (750 USD)
Rashad Hasanov (“N!da” Civic Movement) - 600 AZN (750 USD)
Gozal Bayramli (Popular Front Party) - 2000 AZN (2540USD)
Turgut Gambar (“N!da”) - 3000 AZN (3800 USD)
Jamil Hajiyev (ADP) - 500 AZN (630 USD)
Zaur Gurbanli (“N!da”) – 550 manat (700 USD)
Ulvi Hasanli (AGT – Free Youth Organization) - 600 manat (750 USD)
Abulfaz Gurbanlı (Popular Front Party) - 500 manat (630 USD)
Ziya Bayramov (“N!da” ) – 600 manat (750 USD)
Other participants of the peaceful rallies have also been sentenced to pay inadequately high amounts of penalties.
The norm, the courts use as a ground for the sanction is the Article 298 of the Code of Administrative Offences violates our Constitution and creates insurmountable obstacles for freedom of assembly as enshrined in international law, which Azerbaijan is a party.
As the European Court of Human Rights has made clear, the freedom to take part in a peaceful assembly is of such importance that a person cannot be subjected to a sanction – even one at the lower end of the scale of disciplinary penalties – for participation in a demonstration that has not been prohibited, so long as this person does not himself commit any reprehensible act on such an occasion. While we did not engage in acts of violence, detentions with excessive use of force, arrests and burdensome fines decided by courts severely undercut our right to peaceful assemblies.
Imposing large fines on those wishing to exercise their freedom of assembly undermines peaceful assemblies and is aimed at refraining those opposed to government policies from engaging civic activities and participation in public protests.
Considering that the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly are intrinsic to any democratic society we refuse from paying these fines and announce that we launch a Civil Disobedience Campaign.
Our goal is to achieve the removal of the restrictive legislative norms, which contradict our Constitution and Azerbaijan’s international legal agreements.
Jamil Hajiyev,
Abulfaz Gurbanli,
Gozal Bayramli,
Khadija Ismayilova (Khadija Ismayil)
Rashad Hasanov
Tural Abbasli,
Turgut Gambar
Ulvi Hasanli
Zaur Gurbanli
Ziya Bayramov
Emin Milli
Courage is a key to success now!!!
Sara Winter Sayilir
good luck. and rock on!
