The U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary for Democracy and Human Rights, Thomas Melia, will arrive in Azerbaijan next week to discuss the situation in the sphere of democracy and human rights, Turan was told by diplomatic sources. This information was confirmed by the U.S. Embassy, ??which has not yet issued an official report on the visit.
Last time Thomas Melia visited Azerbaijan in December 2012. During the visit, he met with President Ilham Aliyev, Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov, the opposition and civil society.
At the final press conference in Baku on December 11 a senior official said that "in 2013 presidential elections will take place, and now we are observing the obligation of democracy are being performed."
He expressed a concern of the U.S. government with the state of affairs in the field of freedom of speech, assembly, human rights and democracy in Azerbaijan.
After the December visit of Thomas Melia, the situation with human rights and freedoms has worsened. Since the beginning of this year dozens of activists of civil society have been arrested, political freedom have been more restricted, and supervision of secret services has strengthened.-0-
Politics
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Today, the trial of the disabled 1st group, paralyzed activist Famil Khalilov ended in the Baku Court of Serious Crimes.
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On February 6, pro-government media reported 6 that Azerbaijan is demanding the closure of the “Rossotrudnichestvo” representation in the country, as this organization is not registered in Azerbaijan. Requests from Turan agency to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan to confirm this information went unanswered.
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The international organization "Women Press Freedom" condemned the arrest of journalist Shahnaz Beylergizi in Azerbaijan. A statement of the organization noted that this is the latest in a series of troubling state attacks on independent media in Azerbaijan. On the same day, another journalist, Shamshad Aga, was detained.
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Shamshad Aga, editor of the "Argument.az" website, has been found guilty in the Meydan TV case of smuggling (Article 206.3.2 of the Criminal Code) and sentenced to two months and one day in detention. The decision was made on February 6 by the Khatai District Court of Baku, as reported by Turan, citing his lawyer, Shahla Humbatova.
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