Warsaw / 18.09.18 / Turan: Last week an OSCE meeting on measures of the human dimension was held in Warsaw. Speaking at the meeting, the head of the US delegation Michael Kozak said that the US is concerned about the facts of the transformation of laws used by the authorities to punish individuals who seek to realize their fundamental freedoms: will, peaceful assembly and demonstrations, as well as religion. Freedom of the judiciary is an essential attribute of democratic governance. Among the countries where these freedoms are seriously violated, he called Russia, Turkey and Azerbaijan.
"Politically motivated persecution continues to raise doubts about the independence of the justice system of Azerbaijan. After the well-known opposition leader Ilgar Mammadov served five and a half years out of seven, the Court of Appeals released him in August with two years of administrative supervision.
We urge the Azerbaijani authorities to release those who are imprisoned for the implementation of fundamental freedoms and to lift the ban for traveling abroad on Mammadov and other opposition figures, in particular Ali Kerimli, attorney Intigam Aliyev, activist Anar Mammadli, and journalist Khadija Ismailova.
We also call for a thorough investigation of reports of harassment in places of detention, including torture. For example, no investigation was carried out after the well-known blogger Mehman Huseynov announced the police abuse of him in the place of detention. Instead, he was accused of criminal defamation and sentenced to two years in prison. Also, no one has been held responsible for the torture that the activists of the Movement of Muslim Unity, Abbas Huseynov and Jabbar Jabbarov, were subjected to in prison," Kozak said.
https://osce.usmission.gov/hdim-working-session-iv-rule-of-law-i/
At another meeting of the same event, dedicated to the freedom of the media, Kozak said that freedom of the media is also limited in Azerbaijan. The authorities continue to block the websites of independent media under various legal pretexts when it comes to publishing articles criticizing the government or unflattering about it. According to human rights activists, nine journalists and bloggers are imprisoned for their activities. After kidnapping in Georgia in 2017 and subsequent arrest in Azerbaijan, journalist Afgan Mukhtarly was sentenced in January to six years in prison on charges that many consider politically motivated.
"We insistently urge the Azerbaijani authorities to cooperate with the Georgian government in the investigation of the disappearance of Mukhtarly from Tbilisi, and we again reiterate our call to Georgian officials to complete the investigation of this abduction," he said. -02D-
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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