Portrait of Ilgar Mammadov by Norwegian artist Terje Nicolaisen, terjennicolaisen©2016
Ilgar Mammadov, 46, a charismatic, pro-reform leader of the oppositional Republican Alternative Movement (REAL), was arrested in February 2013 accused of instigating riots he had not been part of. He was convicted to seven years in prison. Mammadov had just announced that he had ambitions to run as a candidate for the presidential elections in October 2013. The European Court of Human Rights found that Mammadov’s pre-trial detention was politically motivated, and ordered his release and that Azerbaijan authorities pay compensation to Mammadov. Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland of the Council of Europe has repeatedly demanded that Mammadov is must be released.
Mammadovs lawyer has announced that the conviction of Mammadov, confirmed by the Supreme Court, will be appealed to the European Court of Human Rights.