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Amnesty International: All Prisoners of Conscience in Azerbaijan Should Be Released
The release of two "prisoners of conscience" in Azerbaijan is a positive step, but in the country's prisons there are additional 20 such prisoners. Therefore, giving a pardon can only be considered a formal gesture to reduce criticism on the eve of the first European Games in Baku. This is stated by Amnesty International.
The paper recalls that the March 18 order of the President of Azerbaijan pardoned the executive director of the Center for Monitoring Elections and Democracy Training (CMEDT) Bashir Suleymanli and a youth activist and blogger Orkhan Eyubzadeh.
"This is good news. But how with the rights of others who have not been arrested for their crimes, but for criticizing the regime? Azerbaijani authorities grant freedom with one hand and take it with the other. Two days ago the court on trumped up charges sentenced the brother of an activist to 6 years in prison (meaning the brother of the activist of the party Musavat Faraj Kerimli, Siraj Kerimli)," said Deputy Director of Amnesty International's Europe and Central Asia Department Denis Krivosheev.
In his view, if the Azerbaijani regime really seriously thinks about human rights, it must immediately and unconditionally release all "prisoners of conscience". The government should stop arrests on politically motivated charges.
Amnesty International considers insufficient the release of only Suleymanli and Eyubzadeh. The organization considers it necessary to achieve their full rehabilitation and to investigqate complaints of ill-treatment of the activists.
In turn, the spokesman for the US State Department Jen Psaki on March 19 said US welcomes the release of the CMEDT representative Bashir Suleymanli and three other activists. (In addition to Suleymanli and Eyubzadeh were also pardoned religious activists Anar Gasimli and Ramil Veliyev).
"We urge the government of Azerbaijan in the coming months to take additional steps to release other persons arrested for public activities. Thus, the government would confirm the commitment to respect the obligation to protect the fundamental freedoms of the OSCE and other international structures," said Psaki. -06D--
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- 19 March 2015 18:30
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Politics
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Voting in the early elections to the Milli Majlis of Azerbaijan began at 8:00. Voting is taking place at 6,478 polling stations throughout Azerbaijan, including the lands liberated from occupation. 990 candidates are competing for 125 seats in the unicameral parliament.
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Armenia is not against the dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group, but does not consider it appropriate to discuss this issue now. "In the context of peace, we consider it possible to make a decision on the dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group. When peace is an established fact, the existence of such a format may raise questions," Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at a press conference today. "The whole question is about the timing, we need to understand how effectively and correctly to turn such topics into a subject of discussion right now," the Armenian Prime Minister added.
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He expressed his willingness to meet with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev at the border between the two countries. "A meeting with Ilham Aliyev could take place at the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. I am open to such a format," Pashinyan said at a press conference today. According to Pashinyan, Armenia recently presented another proposal for a peace treaty to Azerbaijan.
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On August 31, Azerbaijan observes a "day of silence" before the Sunday’s early parliamentary elections for the unicameral Milli Majlis. All electoral campaigning is prohibited 24 hours before the voting. The early elections were initiated by the ruling Yeni Azerbaijan Party. This decision was motivated by the overlap of the scheduled elections in November with the global UN forum - the COP20 climate conference taking place in Baku.
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