Ilgar Mammadov is an opposition politician in Azerbaijan, and one of the leaders of the Republican Alternative Party. Mammadov was considered a likely candidate for the Presidential elections in October 2013, but was arrested in February 2013, prior to the race, in a move that was widely seen as politically motivated. In March 2014, Mammadov was sentenced to 7 years in jail. He was released from prison on August 13, 2018.
Mammadov's previous political affiliation was with the National Independence Party where he served as Deputy Chairman between 1998 and 2003. He left the party in 2003 due to growing policy disagreements. Mammadov was banned from TV and radio after his 19 March 2009 republicanist speech on ANS TV live. He had protested against the conduct of the 18 March 2009 referendum that removed term limits from the President's office, and thus permitted, in principle, a President for life.
Blogging
Ilgar is a regular contributor to leading Azerbaijani media and international conferences on politics, democratization, geopolitics, and conflict resolution. His blog was the first political online diary in the country.
Arrest & imprisonment
Mammadov was arrested on February 4, 2013, after traveling to Ismayilli, a town in Northern Azerbaijan in which there had been civil disturbance, following alleged repression by the local governor. He subsequently was sentenced to seven years imprisonment, in March 2014. A number of countries and organizations have protested against this sentencing. The US State Department noted "significant irregularities in witness testimony and court proceedings. Our observations led to the conclusion that the verdicts were not based on the evidence and were politically motivated." The Foreign Office of the United Kingdom also expressed concern, saying that they were "troubled by a number of aspects of the conduct of the trial which reinforce the impression that the verdicts were politically motivated." Similar statements were released by France, the European Union and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. The Natural Resource Governance Institute, a think tanks, also condemned the sentence. On May 22, 2014, the European Court of Human Rights found that the authorities in Azerbaijan had violated a number of basic human rights provisions in arresting and sentencing Mammadov. The court ordered Azerbaijan to pay compensation to Mammadov. On December 5, 2017, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe initiated infringement proceedings against the Republic of Azerbaijan for failing to comply with the ECHR judgment.
