Imprisoned Azeri activists on hunger strike amid Eurovision fuss

PanARMENIAN.Net - Twelve jailed Azerbaijani opposition activists have started a hunger strike to coincide with the upcoming Eurovision song contest, Azerbaijan’s Public Chamber opposition movement said on Wednesday, May 15, RIA Novosti reported.

The protesters are demanding freedom for all "political prisoners" in Azerbaijan who they say have been illegally arrested or convicted.

Eurovision will begin on May 22 and the finals will be held on May 26 in Azerbaijan's capital Baku . The prisoners chose to make their protest during the event to draw attention to their campaign.

The jailed activists were convicted for participation in an unsanctioned opposition meeting in Baku on April 2, 2011. The protesters, from several opposition parties and movements, demanded democratic reforms and new parliamentary elections in the country. The meeting was violently dispersed by local riot police.

Amnesty International rights group has called the twelve inmates "prisoners of conscience."

Public Chamber also plan to stage protest campaigns during Eurovision in a bid to attract public attention to human rights violation in Azerbaijan.