Azeri Appeal Court Refuses to Release Human Rights Activist

An appeal court in Baku refused to change the pre-trial imprisonment of human rights activist Hilal Mamedov to home arrest. Hilal Mamedovthe, the chief editor of the Baku-based "Tolisi sado" (The Voice of Talysh) independent newspaper, was arrested on June 21 and accused of possession of illegal drugs. Mamedov's relatives say he has never used drugs and that they believe the arrest is politically motivated. Later he was also charged with high treason (spying for Iran) and inciting ethnic hatred. For that he may receive up to a life sentence. Mamedov's newspaper is printed in the Talysh language, a branch of Persian. The Talysh minority's leader in Azerbaijan, Novruzali Mamedov, who edited the newspaper before Mamedov, died in prison in 2009 after he was found guilty of spying for Iran and sentenced to 10 years in prison. In Russia Mamedov is famous for a video where he performs a parody song "Who are you? Good bye, go away!"

http://www.echo.msk.ru/blog/publicpost/930091-echo/ (video)
http://www.rferl.org/content/azerbaijan-talysh-newspaper-editor-arrested/24622523.html