Asylum for a Blogger from Azerbaijan
I.S. Law Firm has been successful in securing asylum for a young political activist and blogger from Azerbaijan who was systematically persecuted by the Azerbaijani government on account of his political views.
In gathering evidence in support of this petition, our attorneys collaborated with well-known pro-democracy activists and journalists around the world. We demonstrated to the satisfaction of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) that the authoritarian government of Azerbaijan has been systematically imprisoning, torturing and threatening young bloggers and political activists, such as our client, based on their political opinion and pro-democracy activities.
In further support of our client’s application, I.S. Law Firm produced evidence demonstrating that the Azerbaijani government through its embassies and “diplomatic” staff explicitly seeks, identifies, and threatens activists not only within Azerbaijan but, more alarmingly, in foreign countries, including the United States of America! The Azerbaijani government’s actions in America, nearly amounting to international espionage, have been well documented and presented to the U.S. government by the attorneys of I.S. Law Firm, PLLC.
In order to be granted asylum, the applicant must prove that he/she qualifies as a refugee. According to the official definition, a refugee is a person who, “owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his/her nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself/herself of the protection of that country; or who not having a nationality and being outside the country of his/her former habitual residence…., is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it”.
In this particular case, attorneys at I.S. Law Firm proved that our client was being persecuted by the government of Azerbaijan because of his political opinion and his pro-democracy activities, including his online activities on social networking websites. We demonstrated that the persecution of our client was taking place in an atmosphere of intimidation and imprisonment of journalists and oppositional figures by the Azerbaijani government. By citing newspaper articles and human rights reports published by credible international organizations, including the U.S. Department of State, we showed that our client was one of many Azerbaijani activists persecuted solely for exercising their right to freedom of expression.
Specifically, attorneys at I.S. Law Firm traced the timeline of pro-democracy protests in Azerbaijan’s most recent history, from the flawed elections in 2008 and high-profile arrest of two pro-democracy bloggers in 2009, to the oppression of the Azerbaijani pro-democracy movement inspired by the uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa of early 2011. Importantly, we pointed out our client’s role in the organization of such pro-democracy events. We also demonstrated that our client actively participated in the pro-democracy protests in Baku, Azerbaijan, in March-April 2011, despite being outside of Azerbaijan by that time.
Attorneys at I.S. Law Firm proved that the Azerbaijani government detained and threatened our client due to his political opinion. As required for all asylum cases, we also demonstrated that our client had a well-founded fear of persecution if he was forced to return to his home country, evidenced by the deteriorating human rights situation and continued persecution of political activists in Azerbaijan. We relied on objective sources, including the most recent available U.S. Department of State Human Rights Report on Azerbaijan, to document the human rights abuses committed by the Azerbaijani government, and to show that our client would continue to be persecuted if he returned to Azerbaijan. Thus, we were able to obtain the grant of asylum for our client.
In order to obtain approval of our clients’ asylum petitions, attorneys at I.S. Law Firm gather subjective and objective evidence, country reports, complete the forms, write memorandums, thoroughly prepare the applicant for the questioning, and stand by the applicant’s side, supporting him or her throughout the entire process. We are proud of our success rates in asylum cases, both affirmative asylum cases through the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and defensive asylum cases through the immigration courts.
PLEASE NOTE THAT CASE RESULTS DEPEND UPON A VARIETY OF FACTORS UNIQUE TO EACH CASE. CASE RESULTS DESCRIBED BELOW DO NOT GUARANTEE OR PREDICT A SIMILAR RESULT IN ANY FUTURE CASE UNDERTAKEN BY I.S. LAW FIRM, PLLC.
If you think you may qualify for asylum, please contact us: +1-703-527-1779 or via e-mail: [email protected].
