On November 10th, imprisoned youth blogger Adnan Hajizadeh’s parents met with him in prison #14. Hajizadeh’s father Hikmat Hajizadeh told IRFS on November 11th that his son was in good health and satisfied with prison conditions.
BACKGROUND
On July 8th, 2009, at approximately 8:00 pm, Emin Milli and Adnan Hajizade were sitting at a table in “Lebonese” (Livan) restaurant, along with several other young adults, when two men came over and attacked them. Milli and Hajizade were both physically injured in the attack. Although they went to the police as victims, the police detained both men as suspects for 48 hours, while the attackers were released. On July 10th, Sabail District Court judge Rauf Ahmadov charged Milli and Hajizade under with hooliganism. He sentenced them both to a two-month pre-trial detention. On July 20th , the Appellate Court upheld this decision. Charges of hooliganism and inflicting intentional minor bodily harm were made against Millli and Hajizade. This case was sent to the Sabail District Court for consideration. On November 11, the court sentenced Milli to 2.5 years and Hajizade to 2 years in prison. On March 10th. 2010, the Baku Appellate Court ruled to uphold the verdict of the Sabail District Court. Local and international organizations recognize the youth bloggers as prisoners of conscience.