Letter: Calling activists and everyone else

If you are not yet aware, an alumnus of the University of Richmond is currently a political prisoner in Azerbaijan for speaking out against a corrupt government and advocating for his and his peoples' right to a free democratic government.

Adnan Hajizada graduated from Richmond in 2005 where his father said he learned what democracy and freedom mean. He went back to Azerbaijan, served his military time and began another kind of fight. Now he is serving two years in prison after an unfair trial and seven failed appeals where judges refused to allow evidence that would clear Adnan and his fellow activist, Emin Milli, including photos and video of the fight they were convicted of causing. Adnan, Emin and other activists in Azerbaijan use social media to change their world and we can do the same to support them.

Despite international, government and citizen protests, the Azeri government continues to oppress its citizens, hoard more oil money and create a place where political dissidents and journalists have to fear for their freedom and safety.

I am telling you all of this because I think we need to do something. Adnan learned what democracy means at this institution. He sat in the same classrooms you sit in, ate in the same dining hall and slept in the same dorms. He learned from professors, students and the United States as a whole that people can have a say in their government and that citizens have the right to be treated equally and say what they need to.

It is time the UR community show more support. Professors have sent letters, some students have participated in protests and now its time for more of us to join in. I propose we start a UR for Adnan group that makes it known that we care about our alumni and that we care about the ideals and freedoms of our country. Our generation wants something to fight for. We want something to put our passions into.

Supporting Adnan is something worthy of our passions, our support and our time. We will organize via e-mail, Twitter and Facebook and show the Azeri government that they cannot hide from technology and they cannot stop citizens from fighting for a free democracy.

If you would like to support Adnan by being a part of this group, please e-mail me at URforAdnan@gmail.com. Follow us on Twitter @URforAdnan and join the Facebook group at UR for Adnan. You can be a supportive voice or an active member. Anything can help. All of us need to say that we support our fellow Spiders and that we will not allow freedom to be quashed in the name of money. Fight for something. Fight for Adnan.