Greetings from Azerbaijan: The voices of protest you won't hear at this month's Eurovision Song Contest

By Charlotte Eagar

PUBLISHED: 21:00 GMT, 12 May 2012 | UPDATED: 21:00 GMT, 12 May 2012

125 million people will watch Engelbert Humperdinck at this month’s Eurovision Song Contest. But will any of them be rooting for the host nation, which tortures its own people and has one of the worst human rights records in Europe?

Jamal Ali is a good-looking 24-year-old, with high cheekbones, olive skin and dark curly hair.

He’s a rap artist whose lyrics  are often critical of his government.

But Ali is lucky to be around to talk to me.

On March 17, while playing at an opposition demonstration in his home country of Azerbaijan, he was arrested with his bass guitarist, Natiq Kamilov, 24; they were badly beaten by the police, sentenced to ten days in jail and tortured.

‘They tortured me twice,’ Ali says.

‘In the court and police station they just hit me. The proper beating was in jail. They called it lessons.

'I had two courses. I remember the first one I watched the clock on the wall; it was two when I went in and when I got out  it was five. Almost three hours. The second was  about two hours.’

Ali says he was handcuffed, with his hands behind him, and placed on a chair.

‘They put another chair in front of me and put my feet on it. A huge policeman sat on my knees so I couldn’t move. Another beat my feet. Another asked, “Why don’t you like this? Do you still think you don’t like the President?” If you say yes, they beat you more. I said, “I’m just a musician, let me out. I’ve nothing to do with the opposition.” They beat me on my heels so I couldn’t walk to another protest.’

This is a far cry from the sequins and dry ice of the Eurovision Song Contest. Yet Azerbaijan is hosting this year’s show.

On May 26, an estimated 125 million viewers across Europe will tune in to see entries that include our own Engelbert Humperdinck. The BBC coverage is being presented by Graham Norton.

FULL STORY: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-2141940/Eurovision-...