Jabbar Savalan is an Azerbaijani blogger and political activist.
11 Facts About Jabbar Savalan
1.
2.
Jabbar Savalan received a presidential pardon on 26 December 2011.
3.
Jabbar Savalan urged citizens to join in protesting in Freedom Square in Baku, the nation's capital.
4.
Jabbar Savalan was taken to the police station, where he was searched.
5.
The police officer conducting the search then allegedly found 0.74 grams of marijuana in the pocket of his coat, and Jabbar Savalan was booked on charges of "possessing narcotics with an intent to supply".
6.
Jabbar Savalan then signed a confession which he later retracted, alleging that he had signed it only in the face of police pressure; his lawyer was not allowed to see him until two days after his arrest.
7.
Jabbar Savalan was twenty years old at the time of his sentencing.
8.
Amnesty International described the charges against Jabbar Savalan as "trumped up", stating its belief that the accusation formed part of a pattern of "similar cases where drugs have been found on prominent critics of the government, such as Eynulla Fatullayev and Sakit Zahidov".
9.
Jabbar Savalan's arrest was protested by the human rights organizations Index on Censorship, ARTICLE 19, and the Norwegian Helsinki Committee.
10.
Human Rights Watch described the government's actions as a "fresh example of the government's efforts to silence critical voices" and "blatant repression", urging that Jabbar Savalan be released immediately.
11.
Jabbar Savalan was freed from prison following a pardon by President Ilham Aliyev on 26 December 2011.