Novruzəli Məmmədov

Novruzali Mammadov (* 1940 , † 17th August 2009 ; also Novruzäli Mämmädov ) was an Azerbaijani journalist , of which the rights of the minority people Talysh in Azerbaijan began.

activity

Novruzəli Məmmədov was himself a member of the Talysh people and published the newspaper Tolışi sədo ( German  voice of the Talys ) . He also ran a Talysh cultural center and worked at the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan at the Institute of Linguistics.

Arrest and conviction

On February 3, 2007, Məmmədov was initially arrested on charges of resisting state violence. On June 24, 2007, he and Talyschi Sado's co-editor Elman Quliyev were charged with high treason and sentenced to long prison terms. Məmmədov was supposed to be imprisoned for 10 years in a more stringent prison. He was accused of espionage for Iran . His newspaper, the publication of which was discontinued after his arrest, was therefore financed with funds from the Iranian government.

International organizations like the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization saw Məmmədov as a political prisoner and saw his commitment to the Talysh minority as the real reason for his arrest and conviction. The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights , Thomas Hammarberg , publicly criticized Məmmədov's conviction on behalf of the Council of Europe. Representatives of intergovernmental organizations on the ground, such as the OSCE office in Baku , campaigned for Məmmədov.

death

On July 27, 2009, Məmmədov was transferred to a prison hospital. This was preceded by months of illness, during which Məmmədov was refused medical treatment, according to human rights organizations. On August 17, 2009 Məmmədov died of a heart attack , according to official reports .

family

Məmmədov's family members were also repeatedly subjected to state repression. His sons Emil and Kamran were threatened, kidnapped and mistreated several times. Kamran Məmmədov died on September 8, 2007 of a heart attack. Emil Məmmədov was temporarily detained in 2008 for alleged drug possession. However, since the allegations could not be proven, he was released again.

Web links

• Article about Məmmədov on the website of the human rights organization Front Line