PACE: Azeri arrests retaliation for critical views expressed by activistsOctober 1, 2014 - 17:49 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) unanimously adopted a statement slamming Baku’s treatment of human rights defenders, PACE website reported. “The Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights deplores the recent arrests and convictions of human rights defenders and NGO leaders in Azerbaijan,” the statement said. “The committee is concerned that during Azerbaijan’s chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers, within the space of a few weeks, four prominent, respected civil society activists have been placed in pre-trial detention on allegedly trumped-up charges related to their activities, in particular: human rights lawyer Antigam Aliyev; Rasul Jafarov, founder of the NGO “Human Rights Club”; and Leyla Yunus, Director of the Institute for Peace and Democracy, and her husband Arif Yunus, both also being accused of “treason”. Moreover, the head of the Election Monitoring Centre, Anar Mammadli, recipient of the Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize 2014, his colleague Bashir Suleymanli and Hasan Huseynli, leader of the NGO “Intelligent Citizen” were convicted and sentenced to long prison terms. All of them had closely co-operated with the Council of Europe. The committee considers these arrests and convictions as retaliation for the critical views expressed by the activists. It is also worried about the state of health of Leyla Yunus, who has reportedly been subject to ill-treatment and deprived of adequate medical treatment. Consequently, the committee calls on the Azerbaijani authorities to release the above-mentioned civil society activists, refrain from unfairly prosecuting others and ensure the application of the standards laid down in the European Convention on Human Rights. It recalls that full respect for freedom of expression, assembly and association is a necessary condition for the functioning of any democratic and pluralistic society, to which Azerbaijan aspires as a member of the Council of Europe, and it awaits, as a matter of increasing urgency, the report of its Rapporteur on “Azerbaijan’s Chairmanship of the Council of Europe: what follow-up on respect of human rights?”,” the statement concluded. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Erdogan wants “realistic road map” for relations with Armenia Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called for a “new realistic road map” for relations with Armenia. Armenia-Azerbaijan: Experts launch work on determining coordinates Expert groups from the countries started the process of determining the coordinates based on geodetic measurements. Yerevan says did not expect CSTO in peacekeeping role Pashinyan has declared that the CSTO would be expected to come to the Armenia-Azerbaijan border as an ally of Armenia Henrikh Mkhitaryan wins Serie A title with Inter Inter Milan midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan admits that the team have long been imagining clinching Serie A against AC Milan. |