"Free Ilgar Mammadov now" say Schools of Political Studies heads
Freedom for Ilgar Mammadov
The European Association of Schools of Political Studies demands the immediate and unconditional release of Ilgar Mammadov, Director of the Baku School of Political Studies, who was wrongfully arrested by the Azerbaijan Authorities on 4 February 2013.
Ilgar Mammadov continues to be detained despite a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights on 22 May 2014 judging that his prosecution was politically motivated and was aimed to punish him for having criticized the Government. Azerbaijan’s failure to implement this judgment constitutes a breach of the European Convention of Human Rights.
ASPS Directors’ Statement
Strasbourg, 6 June 2017
"As heads of the Schools of Political Studies in Europe and North Africa, we voice our outrage at the continuing illegal detention of our Baku colleague in Azerbaijan. We call for the immediate release of Ilgar Mammadov who was sentenced to a 7 year prison term by an Azeri Court on politically motivated charges in 2014.
Reunited during a meeting of the Association of Schools of Political Studies of the Council of Europe (ASPS) in Ljubljana last week, we collectively call on Azerbaijan to implement the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights which found that Mammadov’s arrest and detention breached the European Convention on Human Rights and had been intended to silence or punish him for criticising the Government and publishing information it had been trying to hide.
This travesty of justice is in flagrant violation of Azerbaijan’s commitments as a member of the Council of Europe and must cease. Both the Council of Europe and the European Union must stand up for human rights, and this requires action, not just words.
Failure to act decisively on the Mammadov case and similar human rights violations by authoritarian regimes in Azerbaijan and other EU or Council of Europe states is undermining the European project, brings European institutions into disrepute and fuels euro-scepticism."
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Previous statements and articles
- Statement of the Association of the Association of Schools for the immediate release of Ilgar Mammadov (March 2015)
- Statement of the Association of Schools on the arrest of Ilgar Mammadov (November 2014)
- “Azerbaijan’s human rights are on a knife edge. The UK must not walk away”, by Thorbjørn Jagland, Secretary General of the Council of Europe (November 2014)
- “Secretary General Jagland calls on Azerbaijan to release opposition politician Ilgar Mammadov” (October 2014)
- “PACE President calls on Azerbaijan to free Ilgar Mammadov” (October 2014)
- “Arrest and extended detention of opposition politician following critical blog post was unjustified” (May 2014)
- Statement of the Association of Schools on Ilgar Mammadov prison sentence (March 2014)
- “Prisoners of Criteria”, by Ilgar Mammadov (January 2014)
- European Parliament resolution on Azerbaijan: the case of Ilgar Mammadov (June 2013)
- Statement of the Association of Schools on the arrest of Ilgar Mammadov, Director of the Baku School of Political Studies (February 2013)
