Novruzali Mammadov
Encyclopedia
Novruzali Mammadov was a Talysh
Talysh
Talysh may refer to:*Talysh people*Talysh language*Talysh Khanate*Talysh-Mughan Autonomous Republic - a self-declared autonomy, which existed briefly in the south of Azerbaijan in 1993*Talysh Mountains*Talış, Agsu, Azerbaijan*Talış, Hajigabul, Azerbaijan...

 national minority activist in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...

, PhD in Philology, editor of the now-defunct newspaper Talyshi Sado (Voice of the Talysh), recognized as a political prisoner
Political prisoner
According to the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, a political prisoner is ‘someone who is in prison because they have opposed or criticized the government of their own country’....

 by international organizations, being held in violation of his rights to freedom of expression and association. Mammadov also worked at the Institute of Linguistics of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences
Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences
Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences , located in Baku, is the main state research organization in Azerbaijan...

 and headed a Talysh cultural center, closed after his imprisonment.

Imprisonment

In June 2008, trial in the Grave Crimes Court of Azerbaijan, without participation of lawyers, Mammadov's family and the press, announced the verdict against him and responsible secretary of Tolishi Sado Elman Guliyev. They were accused under the Article 274 of the Criminal Code (high treason), and sentenced Mammadov to 10 years of imprisonment, Guliyev - to 6 years of imprisonment (without confiscation of property) in the strong regime jail. Mammadov was accused of espionage in favor of Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

. He was arrested after the newspaper published articles showing well known poet Nezami as Persian, claiming her mother, named Ra'isa, to be Kurdish
Kurdish people
The Kurdish people, or Kurds , are an Iranian people native to the Middle East, mostly inhabiting a region known as Kurdistan, which includes adjacent parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey...

, and leader of Khurramites
Khurramites
The Khurramites were an Iranian religious and political movement with its roots in the movement founded by Mazdak. An alternative name for the movement is the Muḥammira "Red-Wearing Ones" , a reference to their symbolic red dress.-Origins and History:The sect was founded by the Persian cleric...

 movement Babak Khoramdin as Talysh.

International organizations such as Washington Profile, UNPO  and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty  have voiced their concerns about the arrest of Mammadov.

On June 26, 2008, the Human Rights Commissioner of the Council of Europe
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe is an international organisation promoting co-operation between all countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation...

 Thomas Hammarberg
Thomas Hammarberg
Thomas Hammarberg is a Swedish diplomat and human rights defender.He is currently the Commissioner for Human Rights at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg...

 announced, that the Council of Europe "is very dissatisfied" by the verdict concerning Mammadov.

In February, 2009 the representatives of the OSCE Baku
Baku
Baku , sometimes spelled as Baki or Bakou, is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. It is located on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, which projects into the Caspian Sea. The city consists of two principal...

 Office , Norway’s embassy and of the representation of the CE in Baku visited him in jail.

On April 9, 2009, Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...

n MP Andres Herkel
Andres Herkel
Andres Herkel is an Estonian politician and intellectual. He started his public activities in the late 1980s. From the very beginning of the independence movement in Estonia, he affiliated himself with pro-independence forces, which had close ties with Soviet-era dissidents...

, co-rapporteur of the Monitoring Committee of Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe , which held its first session in Strasbourg on 10 August 1949, can be considered the oldest international parliamentary assembly with a pluralistic composition of democratically elected members of parliament established on the basis of an...

 (PACE), and Veronica Kotek, special representative of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe is an international organisation promoting co-operation between all countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation...

 in Azerbaijan, had a meeting with Mammadov, who was serving his term in high security Colony No. 15. Mr Herkel said that he, together with the newly appointed PACE
PACE
-Associations:* Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical & Energy Workers International Union* National PACE Association* Partnership for Academic Competition Excellence-Educational programs:...

's rapporteur on political prisoners Christopher Strasser, got acquainted with his case, and at a meeting with president Ilham Aliev he would remind him about it.

On July 27, 2009 Mammadov was transferred to the hospital of the Penitentiary Service of the Ministry of Justice of Azerbaijan, but was still deprived of duly qualified medical aid. According to Khilal Mamedov he was placed into a common ward, without elementary sanitary facilities and without bed clothes. He couldn't move freely, eat and drink; he suffered from pains and shortness of breath; but did not receive medical care. Mammadov died in an Azeri prison hospital from a heart attack on 17 August 2009.

Family

In the period of Mammadov's consequence his sons Emil and Kyamran were repeatedly abducted for short times, physical and moral pressure was used against them. On September 8, 2007 Kyamran Mammadov died of a heart attack.

Mammadov's other son, Emil, had been charged with storage and use of drugs. A court ordered his release from prison in 2008, finding the charges against him unproven.

External links

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