(turkcə ve ingilisce)

حمید والائی، )آذربايجانلي میللی چالیشقان) طرفيندن

شرقي آذربایجان حوقوقشوناسلار آسسوسياسيياسي نين اينسان حوقوقلاري اوزره کوميسسيياسي نين عاليجناب باشچيسينا  آچيق مکتوبو

 حمید بی والائی اوچون آچیلان وئبلاگین چالیشانلاری طرفیندن

www.hamid-valayi.blogfa.com

vakil.az@gmail.com

Azarbaijani Activist Campaigns for His Civic, Legal, and Personal Rights

Open Letter by Hamid Valai, Azerbaijani Activist

Letter text: (EN-ingiliscə)

In the Name of God

To the honorable Head of the Human Rights Commission of

 the Eastern Azerbaijan Bar Association,

Greetings

I, Hamid Valai, graduate in judicial law, having passed the exam for the Eastern Azerbaijan Bar Association in 2007, respectfully submit that the Intelligence Office in Tabriz repeatedly summoned my family members and orally threatened them in order to force them to turn me in to that office. I turned myself in on July 15, 2008 to room number 37 (of the News Department of the Intelligence Office at the entrance to Tabriz Prison) and was thereupon taken into custody illegally without clarification of charges against me and without presentation of written subpoena or written arrest warrant.

During my 13-day illegal, solitary confinement in a detention cell of the Intelligence Office, I was subject to severe interrogation accompanied by mental pressure and was physically tortured by the interrogator so badly that some of my teeth are broken and my gums swollen and injured. I also sustained injuries to my right leg and head. I was beaten unconscious a number of times during the torture and I now suffer from dizziness and acute headaches. After the above mentioned torture I requested admittance to the legal medical clinic (Pezeshki-ye Qanuni) for medical treatment but my requests were denied.

After being transferred to Tabriz Prison I had some correspondence with the judicial authorities, including the interrogator of the (interrogator of the 4th Branch of the Public Court of Tabriz) concerning specialized medical treatment for myself and my transfer to the legal medical clinic (to file a record of the torture marks), but again all of the requests were simply brushed off.

Following their consent to my release from Tabriz Prison (on bail) after a few days, and as a result of the insistence of my family and myself, I was eventually allowed to file a suit against the Intelligence Office and present myself to the legal medical clinic.

It should be pointed out that last May (2008), despite my having passed the test for the Eastern Azarbaijan Bar Association, after I had gone through the legal procedure, and at the stage when my training license was to be issued, I was disqualified illegally by the Intelligence Office of Tabriz (without having any crime record or earlier penal convictions), and after the disqualification letter was sent by the above mentioned office to the Lawyers Bar of the East Azarbaijan Province (Tabriz), authorities at the Association refused to issue my lawyer’s training license.

It should be noted here that the Association being required to submit to a review of award of certification by the Intelligence Office and fully complying with the decision made by the latter, contradicts the independence of the Lawyers Bar and is at odds with the law for obtaining a license to practice law. One cannot find any article according to which the Intelligence Office can summarily, and without legally acceptable evidence, prevent a license from being issued and question the independence of the Association. Should there be such an order it must be completely illegal and does not bear any legal validity.

I feel great pride in having attempted legally and in a civil manner to stop discrimination and injustice against the people of Azerbaijan, even though there may be people who cannot bear such resistance and try to quell this noble fight for justice through arrests, torture, and accusations of “campaigning against the regime.” Public awareness drives and efforts to gain back the trampled rights of the people of Azerbaijan should, in no way, be confused with subversive, anti-government activities or “campaigning against the regime.”

Perseverance in pointing out discrimination and fighting against it, cannot be considered a treacherous act. Any free human being's conscience will be troubled by discrimination and inequality, all the more so in the case of someone who, on his way toward justice in the fight against discrimination, arrives at a stage where he has to remain faithful to the principles of justice, human honor, and defense against the trampled rights of a people.

I have firm conviction in the correctness of my actions and that I am on the right path to justice. If certain individuals wish to prevent me from practicing law by disqualifying me, they should know that I have taken my oath to seek justice long before receiving my lawyer’s license. This is an oath of much greater value than my professional oath and is based on the code of honor, justice, and belief in the court of human conscience.

Therefore, with regards to the fact that, in order to claim my individual, civil, and legal rights, I have brought my lawsuit and protest before the competent authorities and in view of my own (in addition to my lawyer, Mr. Naghi Mahmudi) specialty in, and familiarity with, the law and my personal involvement in the preparation of the lawsuit, I request this respected commission as an authority for defending human rights, to defend my legal and human rights through their legal support.

My expectations of the respected commission are as follows:

• Following up on the development of the case of accusation by attempting to defend my rights from all aspects against the groundless accusation of campaigning against the regime, and attempting to obtain a court order stopping surveillance of me and the restoration of my reputation.
• Following up on the development of my case against the illegal actions taken by the Intelligence Office concerning illegal detention and crimes committed by the interrogator in relation to tortures inflicted on me.
• Appealing to the members of the Eastern Azerbaijan Bar Association (Tabriz) to convince them to legally oppose the illegal decision made by the Intelligence Office to disqualify me, and to cancel that order and also to approve my lawyers' training license.

With thanks,

Hamid Valai

Copies to:

Office of the Head of the Judiciary (Ayatollah Shahrudi)

Office of the President (Mr. Ahmadinejad)

International Lawyers Bar

The Legal Institute of the International House of Lawyers

The United Nations Committee for the Prevention of Torture

The International Institute against Torture

Amnesty International

The Organization for Defending Human Rights, "Frontline"

UN Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights

Human Rights Watch

European Court of Human Rights

PEN International