Mehman Huseynov (born 24 November 1989) is an

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

i journalist and human rights activist. He was imprisoned from 2017-2019. Huseynov edits ''SANCAQ'', a socio-political magazine, which uses

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...

. He also chaired the Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety (IRFS) - an Azerbaijani human rights organisation concerned with freedom of expression and freedom of information, which was shut down after a police raid in the summer of 2014. Prior to his arrest he had launched a campaign, “Hunt for Corrupt Officials”. The purpose was to provide evidence of corruption amongst Azerbaijan's ruling establishment. He was arrested in central Baku at around 8 pm local time on Monday 9 January 2017. He had recently posted pictures on the internet of luxury properties, which he claimed were owned by government officials. He has also claimed he was subsequently tortured. The day following his arrest he was tried in a closed session of the Nəsimi raion court and fined 200 manat (about 105 euro) for "disobedience to a lawful order by police officers". He subsequently received a visit from international doctors who stated his medical and psychological conditions were consistent with his claims of mistreatment. However, on 3 March 2017, he appeared at the

Suraxanı raion Suraxanı () is a settlement and raion of Baku, Azerbaijan. It has a population of 210,500. The region is best known for the Fire Temple of Baku on the northern edge of town, a castle-like temple and monastery complex known locally as the ''At ...

where he was found guilty of “

slander Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...

" and sentenced to two years imprisonment. On 2 March 2019, Mehman Huseynov was released. In January 2019 his lawyer,

Shahla Humbatova Shahla Humbatova has been an Azerbaijani human rights lawyer since 2013. After speaking out about prison conditions she found herself disbarred from being a lawyer. There were international protests and in 2020 she was recognised as an Internatio ...

, spoke publicly about his poor conditions. She was later cautioned for "spreading false information" by the penitentiary service. After this the prison refused to allow her access to Huseynov (and other clients). The bar association attracted international criticism for moving to disbar Humbatova from a number of bodies including the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute and Lawyers for lawyers.

Awards

Mehman Huseynov was awarded the Free Media Award from Fritt Ord Foundation and the Zeit Foundation in 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Huseynov, Mehman Azerbaijani journalists 1992 births Living people Azerbaijani bloggers Azerbaijani human rights activists Political controversies in Azerbaijan Free Media Awards winners