Pre-election developments: no opposition plans to run
Over the past week, several political parties in Azerbaijan announced their decisions concerning participation in a snap presidential election set by Aliyev for 7 February (see Issue 110 for details). Opposition parties Popular Front (PFPA) and Musavat declared they will boycott the election. “It takes time to form a coalition for in presidential elections, to determine a united candidate and to promote that candidate,” Musavat chairman Arif Hajili said, adding that “opposition is not isolating itself but the government has chosen a line of isolating the opposition and it has all the resources to do so.” PFPA representatives contended that the government is seeking opposition participation in order to legitimize the election and therefore, PFPA will not take part. Republican Alternative party board member Natig Jafarli pointed out that his party is preparing for the parliamentary vote and the presidential election is not a priority for them, however, they will deploy some observers to exercise for the parliamentary election. The leaders of two semi-opposition parties, Umid and Justice, who served politically-motivated prison terms in the past, noted they will support Aliyev’s candidacy after his Karabakh takeover. Chairmen of six satellite parties declared they will run in the election, but their participation is expected to be nominal. OSCE/ODIHR has sent a needs assessment mission to Baku and they already have started recruiting people for a long-term election observation mission. The authorities will set up 26 polling stations in the de-occupied territories of Karabakh, allowing 23 thousand returnees to vote. Independent election experts have already noted some shortcomings in the voting lists. For instance, the Central Election Commission (CEC) reports that there are a total of 6 million 300 thousand voters in the country, but according to the official figures of the State Statistics Committee (SSC), the number of people over the age of 18 in Azerbaijan is 7.4 million.
Prominent oppositionists arrested again ahead of election
Ahead of the snap election, the repressions of the opposition activists have escalated. On 14 December, police surrounded and raided the apartment of Tofig Yagublu. He was later charged with fraud as well as making and using fake documents. Yagublu, who was subjected to multiple politically-motivated imprisonments in the past, was sentenced to four months pre-trial detention on 15 December.
The recently established political platform – the Third Republic (see Issue 110 for details) – has also become a target of the authorities. On 23 December, police detained its board member and sentenced him to 25 days of administrative detention. Law enforcement also surrounded a café where Third Republic spokesperson Akif Gurbanov was present, but could not arrest him as several journalists and activists arrived to show solidarity.
The Embassy of the United States called for the immediate release of Tofiq Yagublu and other political prisoners. On 21 December, the European Union issued a statement on the recent wave of arrests. “Recent arbitrary detentions … raise serious concerns about the narrowing space for independent journalism and limitations to freedom of expression in Azerbaijan, which run contrary to its international commitments,” the statement read. The Azerbaijani MFA responded “vehemently,” referring to “baseless and biased statements as attempts to interfere with the independence of the judiciary in Azerbaijan.” Official Baku blamed the EU for “indifference to the violation of fundamental rights and freedoms of people in Armenia.”
Authorities block Kanal 13 online TV after arresting director
Following the arrests of directors and journalists of independent media platforms Abzas and Kanal 13, the Ministry of Interior requested the blocking of Kanal 13 online TV for not registering based on the new law on media and for “disseminating slander against officials.” Baku court satisfied the request. Moreover, new charges were brought against Kanal 13 director Aziz Orujov. Akin to the Abzas case, Orujov is now facing formal accusations of illegally bringing large sums of money to the country. Moreover, law enforcement also blocked the bank accounts of all family members of those imprisoned in the Abzas and Kanal 13 cases, including the pension cards of their parents.