Azeri activist's father to exhaust legal channels

Wed 18 November 2009 15:03 GMT | 20:03 Local Time

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Hikmet Hajizade

Hikmet Hajizade, father of imprisoned youth activist Adnan Hajizade and Azerbaijan's former ambassador to Russia, has said he will seek his son's release in line with the law.

“We are now going to apply to the Court of Appeal and then the Supreme Court and only after that will we appeal to the European Court if the decisions of the local courts do not satisfy us,” Hikmet Hajizade said.

Hajizade said he has not approached any international organization about Adnan’s arrest and their activity on his behalf is the organizations' own initiative.

“Azerbaijan has assumed responsibilities before international organizations and under the Helsinki documents, and international organizations have a right to show an interest in the state of democracy and human rights in the member-states of these organizations including in Azerbaijan,” he said.

He refused to comment on the statement of human rights activist Chingiz Ganizade that Adnan Hajizade and Emin Milli were sentenced for hooliganism, not their public activity.

Asked whether he is pleased with the position of the Musavat Party, of which he is a member, Hajizade said “The party has already made five statements on this issue and I have no complaints about the party’s position.”

1 news.az