Eynulla Fatullayev says will run for parliamentary seat

Convicted Eynulla Fatullayev, one of Azerbaijan's most prominent investigative journalists, founder and chief editor of the now-closed Realny Azerbaijan and Gundelik Azarbaycan newspapers, said is going to run for a seat in country’s Parliament, according to announcement by his lawyer, Elchin Sadykhov, quoted by Turan agency. The parliamentary election in which Fatullayev intends to register his candidacy, will be held in Azerbaijan on November 7.

The lawyer said that Eynulla Fatullayev had made a statement in which he said that courts’ decisions of 2007 and 2010 are illegal. The 2007’s verdict was denied and vacated by the European Court of Human Rights, and another verdict of 2010 hasn’t still come in force. Thus, there are no legal obstacles to register the candidacy for elections, Fatullayev said.

“I want to represent the interests of our readers and I am going to register my candidacy from the 29th Sabail electoral district, given that country’s leader Ilham Aliev has been registered from the same district,” said Fatullayev.

“I am not dead above the ears to hope that the regime that convicted me will allow me participation in the elections. However, in the name of my own freedom and freedom of [Azerbaijani] public I don’t want to be aside of the struggle. Watching gutlessly from aside the violence and illegality is the worst thing,” he said in his statement.

Eynulla Fatullayev also said that a group of activists is being formed to support him. He said hopes that oppositional leaders like Lala Shovket, Eldar Namazov and Ilgar Mamedov as well as leaders of the Musavat and some others will back him.

“I will launch this campaign along-side with Shakhvalad Chobanoglu, and our slogan is – Down with apartheid! For our and your freedom,” he said.

Eynulla Fatullayev was arrested on April 20 2007 and was sentenced to eight and a half years on charges of defamation, terrorism, incitement of ethnic hatred and tax evasion. After his covering stories related to issue of Khojaly in which he said that Armenians didn’t kill residents of the village, he was charged of incitement of ethnic hatred and terrorism.

The persecution of Fatullayev also began after he wrote an article marking the second anniversary of the March 2005 murder of his former editor and mentor Elmar Huseynov. The piece, published in Realny Azerbaijan and headlined “Lead and Roses,” accused Azerbaijani authorities of deliberately obstructing the investigation into Huseynov’s killing.

The Supreme Court of Azerbaijan denied Fatullayev’s appeal in June 2008, ending domestic legal avenues. Fatullayev appealed to the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights, which began reviewing the case in September 2008.

In a ruling issued on 22 April, the European Court not only ordered Azerbaijan to free Fatullayev at once but also to pay him 25,000 euros in compensation.