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 A protest rally has been held in Washington for the jailed Azerbaijani bloggers Adnan Hajizada and Emin Milli. The rally comes days after the authorities added another charge to those faced by the bloggers.
According to the website Azer Report, representatives from Reporters Without Borders, the media freedom organisation, were part of a group of 40 people who demonstrated outside the Azerbaijani Embassy in Washington.
Azeri Report has a report and photo gallery of the protest. Onnik Krikorian at Global Voices Online is also covering developments.
Charges added
Hikmat Hajizada speaking at the Azerbaijan Media Center
At a news conference at the Azerbaijan Media Center in Baku on Monday, Isakhan Ashurov, the lawyer working for Hikmat Hajizada, the father of Adnan Hajizada, revealed that a charge of deliberately causing physical damage had been added to those already faced by the two.
He told journalists that lawyers had not been informed in advance about the new charge.
Emin Abdullayev and Adnan Hajizada
There were fears they could be sentenced to two years on the earlier charges, but there are now fears that with the additional charge the sentences could be much longer.
A report from the news conference was produced by bloggers and journalists attending an online journalism training programme organised by the Azerbaijan Media Center.
Hikmat Hajizada also revealed that he has not been allowed to see his jailed son.
He urged the authorities in Azerbaijan to follow the ruling of the European Convention on Human Rights regarding the rights of family members to visit prisoners and allow family members to visit the two. |
