Hasan Rashidi — July 5, 2018
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| At the Babak Castle gathering in July 2002, activists from Ardabil hold a placard reading: “Babak has always been the loud voice of the nation of Azerbaijan against oppression and oppressors.” |
It appears that this year, on July 5 and 6, 2018—Thursday and Friday, a ceremony was expected to be held at Babak Castle near the city of Kaleybar in East Azerbaijan, similar to those organized between 2000–2004. The event was to coincide with the birthday of Babak Khorramdin, the historic Azerbaijani hero who fought against the tyranny of the Abbasid caliph for twenty-two years.
As in those earlier years, participants would probably have commemorated Babak Khorramdin, played traditional ashik music, performed ashik songs, and organized other civic and cultural activities. Some participants might also have called for the implementation of Articles 15, 19, and 48 of the Constitution.
At a time when Dr. Pezeshkian, the deputy speaker of parliament, is himself raising the possibility of administering the country through a federal system, why should there be any concern if some participants at the Babak Castle gathering also demand the implementation of Articles 15, 19, and 48 of the Constitution?
For thirty-eight or thirty-nine years, we have strained our voices demanding the implementation of these constitutional provisions, but no one has paid any attention. Now government officials themselves are proposing a federal system of administration, which may be the best means of overcoming the present crisis and gaining the satisfaction of the country’s non-Persian nations and ethnic groups.
The arrest of at least twelve to fourteen Azerbaijani national and civil activists, as well as the intimidation of many others on the grounds that they might attend the Babak Castle gathering on 14 and 15 Tir, is illegal and amounts to “punishment before the crime.”
Even assuming that those who were arrested, or those who were prevented from travelling to Babak Castle, intended to participate in the ceremony—which is among the most peaceful, civilized, and culturally oriented gatherings in the country—what would have been wrong with that? Is participation in such a ceremony against the law?
Article 27 of the Constitution states:
“Public gatherings and marches may be freely held, provided that weapons are not carried and that they are not detrimental to the fundamental principles of Islam.”
As we can see, the organization of public gatherings and demonstrations is among the legitimate freedoms recognized by the Constitution. According to the final clause of Article 9, these freedoms cannot be taken away.
A peaceful gathering means that protesters express their concerns and communicate their demands to the authorities without engaging in violence or creating disorder.
The participation of people in a ceremony held peacefully and civilly, away from the city in the mountains and forests, to commemorate a fighter who struggled against the tyranny of his time for twenty-two years some 1,200 years ago and sacrificed his life in that struggle, is consistent with justice and humanity. Naturally, anyone committed to justice should support such an act.
Furthermore, those who were arrested had not yet participated in any gathering. Why, then, should they have been taken to detention centres?
Perhaps they intended to say at the Babak Castle gathering precisely what the establishment wanted to hear. In other words, they had committed no crime. They were arrested on the basis of an imaginary and hypothetical accusation.
As the familiar saying goes, they were subjected to “punishment before the crime.”
Original text in Persian:
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