A Forum of youth protesting against arrest of bloggers held in Azerbaijan

Today, activists of youth and public organizations of Azerbaijan have held a Forum of protests against the arrest of bloggers Adnan Gadzhizade and Emin Milli. About 50 activists have gathered at the business-center Landmarke for working out a unified strategy and tactics to defend the rights of Gadzhizade and Milli.

"Our aim is to defend the rights of our colleagues who only want one thing - integration of Azerbaijan in European democratic structures and creation of an international information network. We are going to continue joint efforts in this direction", stated Ramin Gadzhily, coordinator of the Forum.

Adnan Gadzhizade, 26-year-old leader of the youth movement "Ol" ("Let you be!"), and Emin Milli, 30-year-old head of the youth network "Alumni Netwerk", one of creators of the internet TV ANTV, were detained on July 8. On July 10, the Sabail district court of Baku applied arrest for 2 months as a measure of restraint with regard to the detainees accused of hooliganism. The young men filed their appeals against such decision but these were dismissed. If they are found guilty they may be imprisoned for up to 5 years.

Representatives of local and international communities firmly believe that the case against the bloggers has been framed up and they are being punished for dissidence in internet, in particular, for the video "about mulish policy" which is regarded as critics of the Azeri authorities.