My profile:
I’m ready to take any punishment for the ideals I believe in. It is an honor for me to be imprisoned for my ideals.”
These were the defiant last words of a young Azeri Internet activist just before he and a fellow campaigner were taken from a courtroom last week in Baku to start prison sentences for “hooliganism.” Emin Milli was jailed for 2 1/2 years and Adnan Hajizade for two years after they were convicted of starting a fight in a restaurant. But their friends insist they were prosecuted because they were using online media like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter to build support for pro-democracy youth movements in Azerbaijan.
“If there was a sentence, it means they were guilty,” a ruling party spokesman said.
Supporters of the two young activists, however, claim that the evidence was fabricated and the verdict was intended as a warning: Public criticism of the authorities can put you behind bars.
“Our special thanks to the Azeri government for they showed to the whole world our ‘justice’ at work,” wrote one Baku-based blogger.
International rights groups and Western diplomats have denounced the prosecution, but Azerbaijan’s massive energy resources have made its government increasingly impervious to external censure.
The case follows a series of clampdowns on traditional media and the imprisonment of several opposition journalists. Political satire is seen as particularly risky. Milli and Hajizade were arrested not long after distributing a comical video clip that featured a talking donkey lampooning official corruption. Local analysts have suggested that the authorities could also be concerned about the rise of new generation of Internet-savvy, independent-minded youth in Azerbaijan. Television stations largely echo the government’s opinions, but the use of online media has been increasing significantly and is harder to control.
Friends of Milli and Hajizade have told me they believe that the case was an attempt to scare other Azeri Internet activists into silence. But when I asked one of them if she thought this was likely to succeed, I got a surprising response.
“People are not afraid anymore.They are proud of Milli and Hajizade and want to continue everything,” she replied. “The current spirit among young people fighting for democracy and liberty is that this is not the end but a great beginning.”
Matthew Collin is a journalist based in Tbilisi.
Ilham Gurbanov
If you go a bit below the surface in Azerbaijani otherwise hospitable culture you'll find that the country is quite rotten. First of all, there isn't any real democracy, but a despotic president who represses all the opposition forces. But, it is good to be president's friend and pocket the oil money by corruption that the country's public administration is full of. Allegedly, the air force chief Rail Rzayev was murdered in Baku in February 2009 because he became too greedy pocketing more money from aircraft procurement than other guys involved that then got envious and murdered him.
If you ever have a chance to experience how the public administration works in the country you would probably be surprised that almost nothing has changed since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Management culture is ad-hoc day-to-day top-down management. If a minister wants something he can call any day anytime to the guy in administration and ask some simple information. And if the guy doesn't know he calls his subordinates. It is good to remember that many of the Soviet norms are still in use in Azerbaijan. Archaic, I would say.
And how about people and the culture? The country tries hard to be close to Europe, but it does not really fit in with arranged marriages. Yes, as the oil wealth is not distributed equally many families get financial resources from brideprices by selling their daughters to grooms. As a foreigner it is a risky business to go for a date with a woman as it would be messing up with financial arrangements of elder male family members. This family centric lifestyle is also very closed and it is not easy to make friends in Azerbaijan as a foreigner.
As a summary, Azerbaijan is closed and archaic society with uneducated but nationalistic people. This can also be realised by talking to young people who would go immediately to war against Armenia if Ilham Aliyev just asked them to do so.
The future doesn't look bright for the country. Educated people leave the country, relations with Turkey are worsening, relations with Iran are problematic due to large number of Azeris living there. Russia is also a challenge as it supports Armenia. Europe wants to foster European values including human rights, but Azeris don't want to hear criticism against their country and culture. As the country does not have much else but oil and gas and not many friends will the problem bubbles start to burst when the oil reserves wane within 10 years. Maybe then it is time for Aliyev to start the long-waited war against Armenia to gain popularity among people who would otherwise resent the current regime due to decreasing oil profits.