Public figures Asef Akhmedov and Zamin Zeki have been arrested in an updated case against a number of Azerbaijani and foreign NGOs. The activists are charged with economic crimes, and the investigation is looking into their ties to Western donors, including USAID.
The head of the Ganja Regional Community Center Asef Akhmedov and activist, social expert Zamin Zeki were detained and taken to the Investigation Department of the Prosecutor General’s Office of Azerbaijan, where they were charged with economic crimes, their colleagues reported.
The activists were charged in the so-called “NGO case”, and are charged with “official forgery”, “abuse of power” and “legalization of illegally obtained funds”. The Binagadi District Court of Baku sentenced both to three months and four days in jail.
It was not possible to contact the activists’ lawyers, but the Binagadi District Court confirmed the information about the arrest of Akhmedov and Zeki.
“More than a month ago, the Azerbaijani Prosecutor’s Office resumed proceedings against local and foreign NGOs, which were opened in the spring of 2014. Over the course of a month, dozens of leaders and activists of various NGOs, including even pro-government ones, have been summoned to the Investigative Department of the Prosecutor General’s Office. The investigation is interested in projects financed by Western donors, primarily USAID. Asef Akhmedov was one of the few representatives of civil society working in the regions, Zamin Zyaki was busy with projects in the social sphere. Some activists still remain in the status of witnesses, but there is a threat of their involvement as defendants,” said a civil society representative who did not wish to be named.
In the summer of 2014, the Azerbaijani Prosecutor General’s Office announced the initiation of criminal cases against a number of local NGOs, branches and representative offices of foreign NGOs for abuse of office and official forgery. In early August 2014, at the request of the Prosecutor General’s Office, the bank accounts of six local and one international non-profit organization were frozen. According to activists, the accounts of more than 20 local and foreign NGOs were frozen.