Wed 09 December 2009 | 11:50 GMT Text size:

Emin Milli and Adnan Hajizade

Baku's Court of Appeal will on 22 December hear the appeal against their conviction of youth activists Emin Milli and Adnan Hajizade.

The Court of Appeal has already received the appeal filed against the verdict of Sabayel district court on Emin Milli and Adnan Hajizade. Judge Gail Mammadov will preside over the appeal hearing.

Emin Milli and Adnan Hajizade were sentenced on 11 November to two years and six months imprisonment and two years respectively. They were arrested after an incident at a restaurant in Baku on 8 July 2009 and convicted under Criminal Code Article 127.2.3 (deliberately causing minor injury) and 221.2.1 (hooliganism).

The US State Department, the Council of Europe and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe all expressed concern at the case. Miklos Haraszti, the OSCE's representative for freedom of the media, sent a letter on 11 November to Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov in connection with the sentencing. "I hope that the appeals court will reverse the decision and release Emin Milli and Adnan Hajizade as soon as possible.", Haraszti said in the letter.

Ali Hasanov, head of the Azerbaijani presidential administration's public policy department, expressed surprise at the international reaction to the sentencing of the two activists.

APA