Journalists from seven countries expressed solidarity with colleagues arrested in the Caucasus

The The Last Word project, which united media from seven post-Soviet countries, recalled the fate of political prisoners Mzia Amaglobeli, Ulvi Hasanli and Abdulmumin Gadzhiev on the International Solidarity of Journalists Day by publishing their final speeches at their trials.

As "Caucasian Knot" wrote, in early August, a court in Batumi sentenced Mzia Amaglobeli, founder of the publications "Batumelebi" and "Netgazeti", to two years in prison in the case of an attack on the chief of the Batumi police, Irakli Dgebuadze, whom she slapped. Director of the Azerbaijani online publication Abzas Media Ulvi Hasanli was sentenced in June to nine years in prison. Dagestani journalist Abdulmumin Gadzhiev was sentenced in September 2023 to 17 years in prison.

On the occasion of the International Day of Solidarity of Journalists, which is celebrated on September 8, the "Last Word" project, which united media from Russia, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, organized publications in support of politically imprisoned journalists from different countries. The final words of Mzia Amaglobeli, Ulvi Hasanli and Abdulmumin Hajiyev mention the practices of torture, inhuman treatment, coercion and injustice that exist in Georgia, Azerbaijan and the North Caucasus, respectively.

“If there was a functioning and fair justice system in Azerbaijan, it would not be us in the dock, but corrupt officials and organizers of torture,” with these words Ulvi Hasanli began his speech in court in Baku.

Having listed the arguments about the invalidity of all the charges, the journalist noted that the persecution of his colleagues in Azerbaijan is massive. "The European Court of Human Rights has issued hundreds of decisions on cases of Azerbaijani journalists and activists, recognizing time and again that national courts issue unlawful and politically motivated sentences. This case is no exception (...) We have been in detention for 19 months now - in captivity, in fact, because our detention is illegal. But during this time, our team has received four international awards. So what difference does it make whether the authorities recognize us as journalists? Both the local and international communities consider us political prisoners and demand our release. They wanted to silence us with prison, but we continue to speak and write. It would be wise for the authorities to change their mindset and stop repressing us. As I said before, this is not the era - at least it is worth thinking about the fate of other dictatorships," he said.

An unfair sentence is the price a principled journalist is willing to pay, Hasanli noted. "We lost freedom for the sake of freedom of speech and independent journalism. I do not regret that I ended up in prison. This is also an experience," he said in his speech.

Mzia Amaglobeli, in turn, called for the release of all Georgian political prisoners, noting that she is not asking for any leniency for herself.

"They arrested peaceful protesters, those people over whose heads the Constitution was torn up and they said: "Your future is not in Europe." They were beaten in the paddy wagon, and these cases were not investigated. Therefore, it is very difficult for me to say anything about the humiliating treatment that the police subjected me to. I do not ask you to take into account that I am a middle-aged woman and that I do not have very good health - respect for our profession and our evidence is sufficient," she said.

Abdulmumin Gadzhiev, speaking in court with his final word in 2023, drew attention to the fact that by persecuting him, the security forces were unable to force either his colleagues or himself to stop their activities.

"They say it was an attempt to close the Chernovik newspaper and shut up independent media in the Republic (Dagestan). Some see it as a sign from above for a certain part of the Caucasian youth. Or perhaps it was just some office clerk, a talentless operative who decided to distinguish himself by simulating vigorous activity in the fight against terrorism. (...) Whoever it was, he did not achieve his goal. Yes, the Chernovik newspaper is closed. But they say that paper publications are not in trend these days. Over the years, Chernovik's telegram channel has become a mouthpiece for the people, who solve their problems through it. And the number of its subscribers is five times greater than the circulation of the printed version of the newspaper. Yes, we spent four years in prison. But these were the most productive years of our lives, during which, with the help of the Almighty and thanks to public support, we were able to open the eyes of society to many problems by covering the trial and releasing hundreds of publications from the dungeons. It was here that I truly managed to engage in journalistic activity," said the journalist, who has been in prison since 2019.

The website of the "Last Word" project contains the full texts of the final speeches of political prisoners, including those from the regions of the North Caucasus. Among them, in particular, Zarema Musayeva, convicted in Chechnya, Rasul Kudayev, convicted in the case of the attack on Nalchik, human rights activist Grigory Melkonyants, protest leaders in Ingushetia and many of the Crimean Tatar activists whose trials took place in Rostov-on-Don.

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