Author: nina hovnanian

ESC Today – EuroVision Song Contest
May 14 2013

Tony Iommi from Black Sabbath endorses Armenia

Tony Iommi, co-writer of the Armenian entry in Eurovision Song Contest
and guitarist with legendary British metal band Black Sabbath has
officially endorsed the Armenian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest,
Lonely Planet, and encouraged fans to vote for the song.

Black Sabbath first formed in 1968 and although they have gone through
multiple line up changes since their inception, Iommi has been the
sole continual member. The band continue to write and perform today,
with new album 13 being released this summer and also the band are in
the middle of a world tour at the moment, which will come to Europe at
the end of this year. They are often cited as one of the most
influential bands of all time, and were inducted into the Rock n Roll
Hall of Fame in 2006.

The song will be performed by Dorians in the second semi final in
Malmö on Thursday 16 May 2013.

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
May 14 2013

Armenian and French foreign ministers meet

14 May 2013 – 12:02pm

Armenian and French Foreign Ministers Edward Nalbandian and Laurent
Fabius met in France, Armenia Today reports.
The ministers noted development of bilateral relations, political
dialogue and a wide range of documents, cooperation in education and
culture.
They discussed relations of Armenia and the EU and Armenia’s chairing
the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.
Nalbandian praised France for its role in the OSCE Minsk Group and
confirmed joint efforts to settle the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
peacefully. The ministers discuss the Iranian nuclear program and the
Syrian crisis.

Mark Geragos Speaks at St. James Men’s Club
ARTS, COMMUNITY | MAY 14, 2013 4:40 PM
By Nancy Kalajian

Special to the Mirror-Spectator

WATERTOWN – Attorney Mark Geragos, the featured speaker on Monday, May
6, at the monthly dinner meeting of the Men’s Club of St. James
Armenian Church of Watertown, MA drew an audience of over 500 men and
women. The noted criminal defense attorney spoke about his new book,
Armenian heritage, current events and the successful lawsuits against
New York Life Insurance and AXA Corp. for claims on insurance policies
issued to Armenians before the Armenian Genocide.

To help raise funds for their non-profit group, SOAR (the Society for
Orphaned Armenian Relief) volunteers set up an informational booth and
sold scores of copies of Mistrial: An Inside Look at How the Criminal
Justice System Works…and Sometimes Doesn’t, a new book co-authored by
Mark Geragos and Pat Harris. Quite accommodating to guests queued up
to have him autograph their books and pose for pictures, it looked as
though Mr. Geragos was with his extended family and friends as he
smiled, hugged, and warmly shook hands with an admiring fan club.

Middlesex County Sherriff Peter Koutoujian served as the master of
ceremonies during the program and in his introduction reflected on the
recent Marathon bombings saying, `We were Boston, Watertown and
Armenian strong.’ He described SOAR as a group that provides
humanitarian relief to orphan children in Armenia, and introduced
George Yacubian, SOAR founder and National President, who spoke about
its mission, accomplishments and growth from its creation in 2006 to
current 37 chapters mainly in the USA but even reaching out to
Yerevan, Moscow and Berlin. Garo Arakelian of the SOAR Boston chapter
also spoke.

After Mr. Koutoujian’s introduction, the audience stood up to cheer
Mark Geragos who quickly took to the podium giving credit to
`Watertown as the original Glendale’ and deflating self-interest,
humorously wondering if the $12. dinner deal promoted by Bob Semonian
(Chairman of the Speaker’s Committee of the St. James Men’s Club) was
what attracted so many people to the Monday night dinner. From
covering current events ranging from the Boston-Watertown area to
those in California, he covered a lot of ground. He shared his
thoughts on the mysterious Mischa – described by a relative of
Marathon bombing suspects as an Armenian (Christian) who converted to
Islam – and the insensitivity of such a statement coming to light
during a time when Armenians commemorate the Armenian Genocide, and
where so many Armenians live in Watertown where the bombing suspects
were caught.

As he grew up, Geragos was surprised how little people knew about the
genocide. Geragos shared the influence of William Saroyan’s meaningful
words about Armenians that are printed in a poster in his office. On a
personal level, he shared that his dad was also a lawyer. Seeming
pretty down to earth and frank, he shared that on one occasion, he
received a call to represent a certain person and came home and
mentioned it to his daughter who explained who that well-known person
was; it drives him crazy to be called a `celebrity lawyer.’

Regarding recent lawsuits relating to insurance policies issued to
Armenians before the Armenian Genocide, he described the great effort
and steps involved in documenting the insured, finding heirs, and how
one insurance company marketed to Armenians and Syrians; his research
found that about 40 percent of policies issued to Armenians had no
claims at all since no descendants were left.

The word `genocide’ is controversial, Gergaos stated, and he spoke
about the importance of reparations. As he completed his talk,
audience members gave him another standing ovation. During the
question and answer period, he suggested a few ideas for creating
awareness of Armenians and issues of importance: developing candidates
for political office, and engaging the media.

Many guests stayed long after the official program was over to engage
in conversation and share their impressions of the night’s guest
speaker. `Mark Geragos is a leading advocate of the Armenian ethnic
group. I don’t think there’s a finer representation of what our agenda
should be on a larger scale; reparations should be our priority
issue.’ said Bob Avakian.

George Khorikian concurred, `I feel proud to be an Armenian. It’s good
there is someone backing Armenian causes.’

At 18, Ani Hollisian may have been one of the youngest people in the
audience but as an aspiring lawyer, she was greatly impressed. ‘ I
loved his speech. It was short and to the point. He didn’t use lawyer
jargon so it was easy to follow him. He fights for Armenian causes.’
Attorney Richard Tarvezian agreed. `I was thoroughly impressed. He was
entertaining, knowledgeable, and extremely competent. I’m proud to
have him representing us.’

Not only did this meeting have the largest attendance of any Men’s
Club dinner meeting ever held but the design of many food stations
helped ensure that most guests didn’t have to wait too long to eat a
tasty traditional homemade losh and kheyma dinner with pilaf and
salad.

Talleen Hacikyan Exhibit Opens at ALMA

ALMA, ARTS | MAY 14, 2013 3:45 PM

WATERTOWN – Talleen Hacikyan, an illustrator and printmaker, will give
an informal talk about her work at the opening of her exhibit at the
Armenian Library and Museum of America (ALMA) on Wednesday, May 22, at
7 p.m. The exhibit will include prints and illustrations, including
monotype, woodcut and linocut printing. Collagraphy is Hacikyan’s
`medium of choice’ as she notes that the flexible and direct nature of
the technique allows for a more intuitive approach. She writes,
`Working on the cardboard plate that will be inked and printed onto
paper becomes an act of play. Etching and tearing the plate, gluing
materials onto it and building it up with plaster lets me create
fluidly. Images and episodes of an unconscious narrative are revealed
to me as I work. Through symbols and textures that echo indigenous art
and the memory of childhood I explore various themes that deal with
our primordial connection to the natural world.’

Parallel to her printmaking practice, Hacikyan also illustrates
children’s books. The exhibition features the original illustrations
for Tork Angegh (Gomidas Institute, London, UK, 2007) and Aesop’s
Fables retold by children’s author, Michael Rosen (Tradewind Press,
Vancouver, BC, 2013). The illustrations for both books were created
with acrylic paint, combined with hand printing and collage. For the
hand-printed textures, she used objects ranging from woodblocks
designed for textile printing, to leaves, onions, cabbage and
broccoli.

Born in Montreal in 1959, Hacikyan is a visual artist, art educator
and fiction writer. She has bachelor’s in anthropology from McGill
University and a BA in fine arts and fine arts education from
Université du Québec à Montréal. Awards include the Loto-Quebec
Printmaking Prize, the Pierre Henry Prize from Pratt and Whitney
Canada, and in 2012, a residency at Atelier de l’Île in Val David,
Quebec.

Hacikyan has held many solo exhibitions and has participated in more
than 70 juried group exhibitions in North America, Cuba, Mexico, Peru,
France, Spain, Portugal, Taiwan and Australia.

Her website is

Union of Armenian Banks presented Arminfo news agency with a
certificate of appreciation for active and highly professional
coverage of the work of financial and banking industry

ARMINFO
Tuesday, May 14, 16:59

On 14 May the Union of Armenian Banks (UAB) presented Arminfo news
agency with a certificate of appreciation for active and highly
professional coverage of the work of financial and banking industry.

It is for the first time in Armenia that the UAB has come forward with
such an initiative, within the frames of which three news agencies,
four TV channels and one newspaper were awarded for an active and
highly professional coverage of the sphere in 2012. Chairman of the
UAB, Ashot Osipyan, presented the following mass media with a
certificate of appreciation: ArmInfo, Arka and Mediamax news agencies,
Armnews, Yerkir Media, Armenia and Kentron TV channels and the Russian
language “Golos Armenii” newspaper.

Ashot Osipyan said after the awarding ceremony that mass media play a
great part in formation of the society’s attitude to the financial and
banking sphere.

“The published analytical materials are very much important to us. We
welcome ratings and rankings of the specialized nature, as well as
commentary on specific issues. We would like to have more analytical
materials”, – Osipyan said and added that those mass media and
correspondents were awarded today, the work of which meets
international standards.

“The competent analysis helps financial companies to work with
clients, as today the first problem is low level of financial literacy
of population. In the context of this problem settlement, mass media
play a great part. The latter should be divided in two groups. First –
a specialized one for the institutional users, and the second – to
work with wide layers of population…In the first case we need highly
professional training to make ratings and rankings available to
specialists. And in the second case, I mean mass media which should
inform an ordinary citizen what is developing in the country, the
expected changes and their possible affecting citizens of our
country”, – Osipyan concluded.

Diasporan Monitors Remain Positive Despite Widespread Election
Irregularities
16:02, May 14, 2013

*By Sara Anjargolian& Ursula Kazarian*

As reports of irregularitiesduring the Yerevan Municipal election continue
to make headlines in the media, members of a joint local-Diaspora
monitoring team, which exceeded 100 people, are neverthelessoptimistic
about the level of engagement and partnership between local organizations
and Diaspora resources.

The effort, which was the first of its kind, encouraged local monitors
and provided a unique avenue of engagement for Diasporans. From the
opening of the polls at 8am to the end of the vote count, which
stretched well past midnight at many precincts, Diasporans stood
alongside local monitors to deter fraud and to record any
irregularities.

Each two-member team was equipped with video cameras and trained in their
legal right under the Armenian Electoral Code to photograph and make video
recordings. Specifically, the Diaspora team chose to deploy its monitors to
what have become recognized as Yerevan’s `hot spots,’ in District 7
(Sebastia-Malatia) and District 13 (Nubarashen), both of which are known to
be heavily influenced and controlled by local oligarchs.

VIOLATIONS REPORTED ACROSS PRECINCTS

Observed violations included threats of physical harm and damage to
property; routine dismissal by election commission members of violations
observed and reported by monitors; what appeared to be premeditated and
organized chaos, aided by commission members, with the apparent intent to
distract observers and/or to infringe on their right to film and photograph
the proceedings; and an overwhelming number of “helpers”- people designated
to assist those who may be physically unable to vote alone.

“Helpers” are allowed under the Armenian Electoral Code; however, according
to many local and Diasporan monitors, most of these “helpers” were not
occasional individuals helping family members or friends, but instead
arrived in parallel with busloads of mostly elderly voters as part of what
appeared to be an orchestrated strategy.

Diasporan repatriate Babken Der Grigorian, who was monitoring polling
station 7/15 with his partner Paola Guevara, reported that more than 70
`helpers’ were registered to escort blind, disabled, or otherwise infirm
voters at his polling place.

At precinct 7/28, where Diasporan repatriates Pedro Zarokian and
ArmenKupelian were stationed, individuals registered as `observers’ under
shell NGOs caused ongoing commotion and often obstructed the legitimate
monitors’ ability to record violations, some of which were committed by the
precinct’s electoral commission chair. Zarokian also reported voter
intimidation,which included roving gangs of men who congregated in front of
the polling station and seemed to be responsible for `delivering’
votes.
[TSV2] [UK3]

THE BEGINNING OF A NEW FORM OF DIASPORAN INVOLVEMENT?

Despite a long day full of these challenges, most Diasporans involved
in the monitoring mission felt inspired and energized by the
experience. Such was the case for Diasporan repatriatesNairiHakhverdi
and Paula Der Matoian, who were stationed together at precinct 7/14
and managed to capture some of the chaos that took place inside the
precinct on video[TSV4] .
After the polls closed, Hakhverdi remarked, `I can honestly say that
we made a difference at our polling station. Simply getting the
chairman to comply with the electoral code was enough to keep
fraudsters on their toes. We couldn’t prevent suspicious voting
completely, but we certainly got proxies and commission members
sweating!’

DiasporanRoubenGalichian, who was deployed to precinct 7/18, shared a
similar sentiment: `I enjoyed it and think that our presence, badges and
the cameras did affect the voters’ and the committee members’ attitude and
behavior. They all seemed to be more careful and on their toes.I will
happily do it again.’
A journalist documents a conflict at her polling station. Diasporan Matt
Ghazarian and his partner Mariam Dilbandyan watch and document the voter
registration process.Diasporan repatriate Arina Zohrabian discusses her
notes with a reporter at her precinct. Diasporan repatriate Babken Der
Grigorian documents two people approaching the voting booth together.Diasporan
Garine Palanjian checks voters’ passports to confirm their identity.

Photo 1. Diasporan repatriate Babken Der Grigorian watches the vote
counting process after the polls close.
*Photographs courtesy of Eric Grigorian*

Bohjalian: Shining a Light on the Shadow of Denial
By Chris Bohjalian

May 13, 2013

The Armenian Weekly April 2013 Magazine

One night in November 2009, I heard Gerda Weissmann Klein speak in
Austin, Texas, at the Hillel chapter at the University of Texas. Gerda
is not only one of the most charismatic women I’ve ever met, she is
also an immensely gifted writer and speaker. She is also a Holocaust
survivor. Her 1957 memoir, All but My Life, chronicles her harrowing
ordeal in labor camps and death marches during World War II. Cecile
Fournier, the concentration camp survivor in my 2008 novel, Skeletons
at the Feast, owes much to her and to her story. Gerda is, pure and
simple, one of the wisest and most inspirational people I know.

Chris Bohjalian (Photo by Tom Vartabedian)
During the question and answer period of her speech that night three
and a half years ago, someone asked Gerda, `What do you say to
Holocaust deniers?’

She shrugged and said, `I really don’t have to say much. I simply tell
them to ask Germany. Germany doesn’t deny it.’

I recalled that exchange often this past year. The Sandcastle Girls,
my novel of the Armenian Genocide, was published in North America last
summer, and the reality is that outside of the diaspora community,
most of the United States and Canada knows next to nothing of this
part of our story. If you trawl through the thousands of posts on my
Facebook page or on Twitter, for example, you will see hundreds of
readers of the novel remarking that:

1) They knew nothing of the Armenian Genocide; and

2) They could not understand how they could have grown to adulthood in
places such as Indianapolis or Seattle or Jacksonville and not heard a
single word about the death of 1.5 million people.

Sometimes these readers told me they were aghast. Sometimes they told
me they were ashamed. And very often they asked me why: Why did no one
teach them this part of world history? Why did their teachers skip
over the 20th century’s first genocide?

And the answer, pure and simple, is denial.

Imagine if I had answered my readers who wanted to learn more about
the Armenian Genocide by saying, `Ask Turkey. They’ll tell you all
about it. They don’t deny it.’ But, of course, Turkey does deny it – as,
alas, do many of Turkey’s allies. Now, these readers were not
disputing the veracity of the Armenian Genocide. They were not
questioning the history in my novel. My point is simply this: There is
a direct connection between the reality that so few Americans know of
the Armenian Genocide and the Turkish government’s nearly century-long
effort to sweep into the shadows the crimes of its World War I
leaders.

As anyone who reads this paper knows, the Turkish government’s tactics
have varied, ranging from denial to discreditation. They have, over
the years, blamed others, and they have blamed the Armenians
themselves. They have lied. They have bullied any historian or
diplomat or citizen or journalist or filmmaker who’s dared to try and
set the record straight.

Now, in all fairness, there might be a small reasonableness trickling
slowly into Turkish policy on this issue. Earlier this year, on the
anniversary of Hrant Dink’s assassination, the editor of this paper
gave a speech in Turkey – in Turkish – about justice for the genocide. You
can now read Agos, the Armenian newspaper in Ankara, while flying on
Turkish Airlines.

Nevertheless, it is a far cry from these baby steps and Ankara
following Berlin’s lead anytime soon and building – to use the name of
the poignant and powerful Holocaust monument near the Brandenburg
Gate – a Memorial to the Murdered Armenians of the Ottoman Empire.

And the reality remains here in the United States that we as Armenians
actually have to struggle to get our story into the curriculums of far
too many school districts. We often have to create the curriculums
ourselves.

How appalling is this issue? My own daughter went to a rigorous high
school just outside of Boston, no more than 10 or 15 minutes from the
Armenian community in Watertown and the Armenian Library and Museum of
America. I saw the school had an elective course on the history of the
Ottoman Empire. When I ran into a student who had taken the semester
long class, I asked, `How much time was devoted to the Armenian
Genocide?’ He looked at me, perplexed. He had no idea what I was
talking about. `I guess we never got to it because the course only
went as far as the end of the First World War.’

Oh.

Consequently, this past year I wound up as far more of an activist
than I ever expected I’d be about…anything. The reality is that
activist artists – or at least activist novelists – sometimes seem more
likely to embarrass themselves than affect social change. (Exhibit A?
Norman Mailer’s campaign for mayor of New York.) But with every one of
those posts on my Facebook wall, as one reader after another asked me
how it was possible that they had never heard of the Armenian
Genocide, I found myself growing unexpectedly, uncharacteristically
angry. Make no mistake, I wasn’t angry with Turkish citizens or
Turkish-Americans. But I was furious with a government policy that has
allowed a nation to, in essence, get away with murder – to build a
modern, western state and a civilized reputation on the bones of my
ancestors. And I found myself energized at every appearance in ways I
never had been before, whether I was speaking at a little library in
central Vermont with exactly zero Armenian-Americans in attendance or
on Capitol Hill, under the auspices of the Armenian National Committee
of America.

So, will more Americans know our story two years from now, when the
centennial of the start of the slaughter arrives? Darned right they
will. We will see to it.

Chris Bohjalian’s novel of the Armenian Genocide, The Sandcastle
Girls, was published in paperback in April by Vintage Books.

Obituary: Allen Yekikian

Monday, May 13th, 2013

Unger Allen Yekikian

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation Shant Student Association would
like announce the untimely passing of one its members, Unger Allen
Yekikian, who died on Friday, May 10, 2013, along with this wife Sose
Thomassian in a car accident en-route to Georgia from Armenia.

Armenian Revolutionary Federation
Shant Student Association

IRAK
Les Kurdes irakiens inquiets face à l’afflux de combattants du PKK

Les habitants du Kurdistan irakien vivant près de la frontière turque
s’inquiètent de voir s’installer des milliers de combattants kurdes de
Turquie, redoutant des raids de l’armée turque en dépit de l’amorce
d’un processus de paix entre Ankara et les rebelles kurdes.

Les forces turques n’hésitent plus depuis des années à viser les
combattants du Parti des travailleurs du Kurdistan (PKK) de l’autre
côté de la frontière, empêchant des fermiers d’accéder à leurs champs
et tuant ou blessant parfois des civils.

Le PKK, qui mène depuis près de 30 ans un combat pour la
reconnaissance d’une entité kurde en Turquie, a annoncé mercredi que
ses combattants avaient amorcé un retrait vers l’Irak, dans le cadre
d’un processus de paix délicat avec la Turquie.

Dans la région autonome du Kurdistan irakien, l’arrivée d’environ
2.000 combattants rebelles n’est pas accueillie avec joie parmi les
habitants.

`Nous espérons ne plus entendre le bruit de l’artillerie turque et des
avions qui bombardent nos montagnes`, a déclaré Mohammed Saïd, 47 ans,
habitant de la ville d’Al-Amadia, non loin de la frontière. `Nous
avons peur que les combats reprennent`.

Ses craintes ne sont pas sans fondement. En 1999, un précédent retrait
massif du PKK avait tourné court après une embuscade de l’armée turque
contre des rebelles sur le départ qui avait fait 500 morts et anéanti
les espoirs d’une paix durable.

A cause du conflit, `nous avons dû abandonner de vastes portions de
terres, qui sont toujours désertées`, a expliqué M. Saïd.

`J’espère qu’ils vont trouver des solutions permanentes avec le
gouvernement turc`, a-t-il ajouté, tout en doutant que cela puisse
arriver rapidement.

`Nous espérons que les Kurdes de Turquie vont obtenir leurs droits, de
manière à ce que cela s’améliore de manière permanente et que les
combattants puissent rentrer chez eux`, a déclaré Karwan Ahmed, un
habitant de 37 ans.

Les rebelles du PKK quittent la Turquie à pied, à travers la zone
frontalière escarpée, pour rejoindre les milliers de combattants déjà
installés sur leurs bases dans les montagnes de Qandil, dans le nord
de l’Irak.

Le Premier ministre turc, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a maintes fois répété
que personne ne toucherait aux rebelles en route pour l’Irak.

Entre 13 et 19 millions de Kurdes vivent en Turquie, selon les
estimations, la plus importante part des quelque 25 à 35 millions de
Kurdes disséminés dans une vaste zone couvrant aussi l’Irak, l’Iran et
la Syrie.

Le PKK, dont les revendications sont passées au fil du temps d’une
indépendance complète à l’autonomie, ainsi qu’à la reconnaissance de
la langue et de la culture kurdes, compte désormais entre 3.000 et
5.000 combattants actifs, probablement moins de la moitié des forces
dont il a disposé jusqu’en 1999.

Considéré comme une organisation terroriste par la Turquie mais aussi
par les Etats-Unis et l’Union européenne, le PKK a pris les armes en
1984, et le conflit a fait depuis environ 45.000 morts.

Le gouvernement fédéral irakien, qui a régulièrement dénoncé les
attaques turques sur son territoire mais est également à couteaux
tirés avec les autorités du Kurdistan irakien, ne s’est pas non plus
montré enthousiaste de voir arriver d’autres rebelles kurdes.

Dans un communiqué, le ministère des Affaires étrangères a fait savoir
que Bagdad, tout en saluant toute démarche susceptible de mettre fin
au conflit entre la Turquie et le PKK, n’acceptait `pas l’entrée de
groupes armés sur son territoire`.

Mais ce sont les forces de la région autonome kurde, et non fédérales,
qui surveillent la frontière.

Le porte-parole du PKK Ahmed Denis a souhaité que le gouvernement
fédéral à Bagdad et celui du Kurdistan irakien autonome soutiennent le
retrait vers l’Irak des combattants du PKK dans le cadre du processus
de paix entre les rebelles et Ankara.

`Nous disons aux gouvernements irakien et kurde que cette démarche
n’est pas dirigée contre eux, et nous leur demandons de jouer un plus
grand rôle et de la soutenir, car régler la question kurde (signifie)
la stabilité pour la région`, a dit M. Denis à l’AFP.

mardi 14 mai 2013,
Stéphane ©armenews.com

FORUM 18 NEWS SERVICE, Oslo, Norway

The right to believe, to worship and witness
The right to change one’s belief or religion
The right to join together and express one’s belief

===============================================
Tuesday 14 May 2013
AZERBAIJAN: IMAM AND DRIVER IN PRE-TRIAL DETENTION, CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTOR
IMPRISONED

Imprisoned Jehovah’s Witness conscientious objector Kamran Mirzayev is due
to hear tomorrow (15 May) if his appeal has overturned his nine-month
prison sentence, Jehovah’s Witnesses told Forum 18 News Service. He is one
of two known conscientious objectors imprisoned for refusing Azerbaijan’s
compulsory military service. Azerbaijan committed itself to adopting an
alternative civilian service by January 2003, but failed to do so.
Meanwhile, Imam Taleh Bagirov – who led prayers and preached at a Shia
mosque near Baku in defiance of the authorities’ pressure – is in his
second month of pre-trial detention, together with his driver. Community
members insist the accusations against them are fabricated. The
investigator leading the criminal case, Vusal Salehov from the Police
Department for the Fight Against Organised Crime, refused to discuss the
case with Forum 18.

AZERBAIJAN: IMAM AND DRIVER IN PRE-TRIAL DETENTION, CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTOR
IMPRISONED

By Felix Corley, Forum 18 News Service

After two months’ imprisonment, Jehovah’s Witness conscientious objector
Kamran Mirzayev is due to hear tomorrow (15 May) if his appeal has
overturned his nine-month prison term for refusing compulsory military
service on grounds of religious conscience, Forum 18 News Service has
learnt. Mirzayev is one of two known imprisoned conscientious objectors in
Azerbaijan. In a separate case, Imam Taleh Bagirov and his driver Anar
Melikov are in their second month of prison awaiting criminal trial on
drugs and weapons charges which their community members insist have been
fabricated. They say the authorities were unhappy at Bagirov’s preaching
against the Caucasian Muslim Board and state officials.

“Taleh Bagirov has been imprisoned for his social and political activity,
as well as his preaching in the mosque,” his lawyer Javad Javadov told
Forum 18 from the capital Baku on 14 May. “He was very harsh in his
criticism of the Caucasian Muslim Board and of officials. They didn’t like
his rhetoric.”

Javadov claimed that police often plant drugs or weapons on individuals
they wish to imprison for political reasons.

Defying state-backed mosque control

The 29-year-old Imam Taleh Bagirov (also known as Bagirzade) preached at
the Hazrat Abulfaz Aga Mosque in the village of Mastaga on the Absheron
peninsula near Baku. The mosque was built by local Shia Muslims. It gained
state registration in June 2010, the State Committee website notes.

Like all mosques in Azerbaijan, the government insisted Hazrat Abulfaz Aga
Mosque has to be controlled by the Caucasian Muslim Board, which named its
imam. However, many mosque members rejected the imam named by the Board,
Mirjafar Hasanli. They welcomed instead Bagirov and another theologian
Zulfugar Mikailzade to lead Friday prayers and give the sermon. Indeed,
mosque members often prevented the Board-appointed imam from entering the
mosque.

The 2009 Religion Law requires all mosques to belong to the state-backed
Caucasian Muslim Board. Independent mosques are banned. Many religious
communities of other faiths have been denied state registration and are
subjected to threats, raids and fines (see Forum 18’s religious freedom
survey of Azerbaijan ).

Many mosques – including those both inside and outside the Muslim Board –
have been forced to close down. Sunni mosques – such as one in Azerbaijan’s
second city Gyanja [Gäncä] – have been particularly targeted for enforced
closure and confiscation (see F18News 18 September 2009
).

Muslims – and others – who conduct religious activity outside the framework
of state-approved places of worship face harassment, such as the Baku-based
Muslim Zeka Miragayev whose home was raided in May 2012 (see F18News 11
July 2012 ).

Criticising the authorities

Bagirov is known for his often harsh criticism of the Azerbaijani
government as well as of the Caucasian Muslim Board.

After university in Baku, Bagirov received religious education in Qom in
Iran and Najaf in Iraq, two of Shia Islam’s holiest cities and centres of
learning. He returned to Azerbaijan in May 2011. That month Bagirov was
arrested and subsequently imprisoned for 18 months for his participation in
demonstrations against bans on the headscarf for girls in schools. He was
not freed until November 2012. Mikailzade had received a suspended
sentence.

In sermons shared on social media, Bagirov compared the government to the
Egyptian pharaohs, and called Muslims out into the streets, independent
Baku journalist Idrak Abbasov wrote in a 5 April article for the Institute
for War and Peace Reporting.

“No matter how many evil-doers there are in this world, how many men in
black masks and guns, Allah is with us,” Abbasov quoted Bagirov as saying
in one sermon. “You have stolen people’s land, you have stolen the oil, and
you still sit there with no one to say anything to you. Now you want to
rule in the mosque too? No matter how influential an official is, he cannot
rule inside the mosque.”

Heroin, pistol, bullets?

Bagirov and his driver Melikov were arrested on 31 March by officers of
Baku’s Sabunchu District police. Officers later claimed they had found just
over a gram of heroin when they searched Bagirov, and a pistol, bullets and
a knife when they searched Melikov.

When the authorities sought to imprison Baptist Pastor Hamid Shabanov in
2008 for leading an unregistered religious community in his home village of
Aliabad, they chose to lodge criminal charges of owning an illegal gun. He
and his church members insist the Russian gun – dating back to 1895 – on
which the case was based was planted by police. Pastor Shabanov spent seven
months in prison and under house arrest (see F18News 12 February 2009
).

Elchin Gasymov, a theologian who regularly attended the Hazrat Abulfaz Aga
Mosque, rejected the authorities’ allegations against Bagirov. “We condemn
Taleh’s arrest,” he told Radio Free Europe’s Azerbaijani service on 5
April. “He is a theologian and a person concerned about the fate of the
people.” He said neither he nor any other mosque member believed the drugs
accusations against Bagirov, describing them as “impossible”.

“At first there was pressure not to allow Taleh into the mosque,” Gasymov
told Radio Free Europe. He said pressure on the mosque from the State
Committee for Work with Religious Organisations had stopped after Bagirov’s
arrest.

A mosque official, who asked not to be named, told Radio Free Europe the
village Administration as well as higher-level officials had warned the
mosque not to allow Bagirov to lead prayers or preach there.

The head of Mastaga Administration, Zulfugar Jafarov, insisted to Radio
Free Europe’s Azerbaijani service on 5 April that all was quiet in the
Hazrat Abulfaz Aga Mosque. “People are conducting their rituals. No warning
has been given to the mosque.”

Police beating?

Bagirov and Melikov were initially held at Sabunchu District Police
station. On 2 April, Baku’s Sabunchu District Court ordered their detention
in pre-trial custody for two months while the case is investigated. The two
men were transferred that day to the Police Department for the Fight
Against Organised Crime. In mid-April, Bagirov and Melikov were transferred
to the Investigation Isolation Prison in Kurdakhani north of Baku.

Bagirov’s lawyer Javadov met his client on 3 April at the Department for
the Fight Against Organised Crime. The lawyer told journalists the same day
that at Sabunchu District police station after his arrest, officers tied
Bagirov’s hands and feet together and beat him. Because his hands were so
tightly bound, he lost the ability to move his right hand. Javadov said
signs of the beatings were still visible on Bagirov’s body.

Forum 18 tried to reach Colonel Javanshir Babayev, head of Sabunchu
District Police, on 14 May. Although officers said he was in his office
they said they were unable to give Forum 18 his direct telephone number.
The same day Ali Aliyev, who said he was one of Colonel Babayev’s aides,
said he did not recall Bagirov’s case. “But we don’t beat detainees,”
Aliyev insisted to Forum 18. “Our senior officers take a very serious
approach to that.”

Three years’ imprisonment?

Bagirov is facing charges under Criminal Code Article 234.1. This punishes
production, purchase, storage, transfer or sale of drugs with a prison term
of up to three years. Melikov faces criminal charges of illegal possession
of weapons.

The case against Bagirov is being led by Vusal Salehov, an investigator
from the Police Department for the Fight Against Organised Crime. Reached
on 14 May, he immediately put down the phone as soon as Forum 18 introduced
itself. Subsequent calls went unanswered.

The lawyer Javadov told Forum 18 he believes the pre-trial detention will
be extended further when it runs out at the end of May. He applied to court
for his client to be transferred to house arrest while the investigation
against him continues. However, the suit was held by Sabunchu District
Court for a month before being handed to Narimanov District Court. There on
3 May, Judge Abbas Aliyev rejected the suit.

Bagirov, who was allowed to appear and speak at the 3 May hearing, told the
court he expected nothing from it. “The reason for my arrest is the
injustice ruling in this country,” Islamazeri.az quoted him as declaring.

Javadov lodged an appeal on Bagirov’s behalf to Baku Appeal Court against
the lower court decision. However, on 13 May Judge Abid Abdinbayov rejected
the appeal.

Javadov told Forum 18 that he had visited Bagirov again at the detention
facility at Kurdakhani on 13 May. “He now has the Koran and some other
books, and is not prevented from praying. However, the prison won’t let him
have all the books that have been brought for him.”

Nine months’ imprisonment

Jehovah’s Witness Kamran Mirzayev – who was imprisoned after rejecting
Azerbaijan’s compulsory military service on grounds of religious conscience
– has tried to overturn his prison term. His appeal was heard on 14 May by
a panel of judges at Sheki Appeal Court, chaired by Judge Humbat Salimov.
The Court said the decision is to be officially announced on 15 May,
Jehovah’s Witnesses told Forum 18. Officials at the Court refused to give
Forum 18 any information on 14 May.

The 18-year-old Mirzayev, who lived in Baku, is originally from the town of
Goychay [Göyçay] in central Azerbaijan, which is still his
officially-registered place of residence.

A criminal case was opened against him after he declared that he could not
serve in the armed forces and wished to do an alternative, non-military
service. The case was launched under Article 321.1 of the Criminal Code.
This states: “Evasion without lawful grounds of call-up to military service
or of mobilisation, with the purpose of evading serving in the military, is
punishable by imprisonment for up to two years [in peacetime]”.

Mirzayev was summoned for trial on 12 March at Goychay Court. There, Judge
Farhad Efendiyev sentenced him to nine months’ imprisonment, according to
court documents seen by Forum 18. He was arrested in court once the verdict
was announced, Jehovah’s Witnesses told Forum 18. He then lodged the appeal
to Sheki Appeal Court.

Still imprisoned

The other current known imprisoned conscientious objector is Fakhraddin
Mirzayev (no relation of Kamran). A Jehovah’s Witness from Gyanja, he had
his 20th birthday in prison on 19 March.

Fakhraddin Mirzayev was sentenced at Gyanja’s Kapaz District Court on 25
September 2012 to one year’s imprisonment under Article 321.1 of the
Criminal Code. On 21 November 2012 a panel of three judges at Gyanja Appeal
Court upheld the decision of the lower court.

Fakhraddin Mirzayev has lodged a further appeal to Azerbaijan’s Supreme
Court and is awaiting a hearing, Jehovah’s Witnesses told Forum 18 on 14
May.

Originally held in Gyanja, after his November 2012 appeal was rejected
Fakhraddin Mirzayev was transferred to prison camp No. 5 in the village of
Halaj near Salyan, southwest of Baku. Human rights defender Eldar Zeynalov
pointed out to Forum 18 that the prison’s distance from Mirzayev’s home
town represents an “additional punishment” for him (see F18News 17 January
2013 ).

The prison address is:

5 nomreli Cezacekme muessisesi

Halaj settlement

Salyan region

Azerbaijan

Council of Europe concern

Fakhraddin Mirzayev was included in the 22 January 2013 list of political
prisoners in Azerbaijan prepared by Christoph Strässer, Rapporteur of the
Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly Committee on Legal Affairs and
Human Rights (Doc. 13079 Add). It noted that in cases involving Turkey and
Armenia, “the European Court of Human Rights has established the duty to
establish an alternative service for conscientious objectors to military
service”.

The report also noted two cases lodged against Azerbaijan at the
Strasbourg-based ECtHR by former imprisoned conscientious objectors:
Mushfiq Mammedov and Samir Huseynov v. Azerbaijan (Application No.
14604/08) and Farid Mammedov v. Azerbaijan (Application No. 45823/11). All
three former prisoners had been convicted under Criminal Code Article 321.1
(see F18News 16 October 2012
).

The ECtHR told Forum 18 from Strasbourg on 14 May that no admissibility
decisions have yet been taken in either of these cases.

Conscientious objection “dangerous”?

Elshad Iskenderov, chair of the State Committee in Baku, rejected concerns
that those in Azerbaijan who refuse compulsory military service on grounds
of religious conscience “come under pressure”. He complained that those who
raise these concerns “are not interested in how dangerous these evasions
[of military service] are for the national security of Azerbaijan, [..]
whose land is occupied,” he said in an interview with Trend news agency,
published on 6 May and also reproduced on the State Committee website.

When Azerbaijan entered the Council of Europe in 2001, it committed itself
to pardon and free imprisoned conscientious objectors, and to introduce
civilian alternative service, by January 2003.

At the time of accession to the Council of Europe, senior Azerbaijani
politicians pledged to implement the commitments in full. “We studied the
list of commitments received on the eve of Azerbaijan’s accession to the
Council of Europe and would like to assure you that after becoming a full
member state of the Council of Europe, Azerbaijan will spare no efforts to
implement these commitments,” President Heydar Aliyev, Murtuz Aleskerov,
Chair of Parliament (Milli Mejlis), and Prime Minister Artur Rasi-Zade
wrote in a joint letter to the Council of Europe on 25 March 2000.

However, Azerbaijan has to date failed to pardon and free imprisoned
conscientious objectors, or to introduce civilian alternative service (see
Forum 18’s religious freedom survey of Azerbaijan
). (END)

For more background information see Forum 18’s Azerbaijan religious freedom
survey at .

More coverage of freedom of thought, conscience and belief in Azerbaijan is
at .

A compilation of Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe
(OSCE) freedom of religion or belief commitments can be found at
.

For a personal commentary, by an Azeri Protestant, on how the international
community can help establish religious freedom in Azerbaijan, see
.

A printer-friendly map of Azerbaijan is available at
.
(END)

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