A Baku court sentenced urban artist Théo Clerc, 38, to three years in prison on Tuesday, September 10, for graffiti painted on March 30 in the Azerbaijani capital’s metro. Two other urban artists who accompanied him, New Zealander Ismael De-Saint Quentin and Australian Paul Han, received simple fines for the same acts. “There is no difference between the three cases, except nationality”underlines their Azerbaijani lawyer Elchin Sadigov.
The three men have each already paid the fine of 3,500 euros covering the costs incurred to erase their graffiti. Only the Frenchman was immediately imprisoned for three months, while his two accomplices were banned from leaving Azerbaijani territory pending trial. “The article of the penal code for which Mr. Clerc was convicted does not provide for a prison sentence. The verdict is simply illegal.”indicates to the Monde a source close to the case.
The three artists, a group of long-time friends, had arrived in Azerbaijan on March 25 as part of an international tour, a common practice in the world of urban art. They each created a graffiti on three separate train cars. These works, including The World was able to see the photographs, which consist of stylized letters and do not present any political character. “My clients were detained by police at Baku airport on March 31 as they were about to leave the country. They were slapped during the first interrogation, but were not subjected to any further violence.”says Mr. Sadigov, one of the few Azerbaijani lawyers to defend people prosecuted for political reasons.
Warning from the Quai d’Orsay
Théo Clerc, a film and fashion designer who also enjoys great renown in the Parisian street art scene, was only able to receive a visit from the French consul after three months of detention. “It happened just after I visited my brother in the prison visiting room,” says Charlie Clerc, 39, a graphic designer in Essonne. “During my first visit, in June, Théo was afflicted with tics; very nervous, he had memory lapses, he was unrecognizable”remembers Charlie Clerc. His brother made him requests “weird” by phone like that of “painting an Azerbaijani flag next to the Eiffel Tower”. Then, during the next call, Théo Clerc told his brother: “Above all, don’t do what I said last week.”
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