The spokespersons of Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the Commission, and Štefan Fule, European Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy, issued the following statement on December 20:
"The High Representative and the Commissioner are very concerned at the arrest of Mr. Anar Mammadli, Chairman of the Election Monitoring and Democracy Studies Centre, on 16 December and by the Court's decision to sentence Mr. Mammadli to three months' pre-trial detention in the absence of his lawyer.
The High Representative and Commissioner Fule call upon the Azerbaijan authorities to ensure a speedy, fair, transparent and independent investigation of the charges against Mr. Mammadli, free of political influence and prejudice while fully respecting due process.
The EU will closely monitor the case of Mr. Mammadli as well as other ongoing legal procedures in Azerbaijan involving civil society organisations and individuals." -0-
Politics
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The head of Mossad (Israel's foreign intelligence service) David Barnea recommended to the country's political leadership strike Iran, not the Houthis, Ynet reported on December 22.
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Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov left for a working visit to Serbia on Monday.
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Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev sent a congratulatory message to the head of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis, on the occasion of Holy Christmas.
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The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (OPHRD), a joint program of the World Organization against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), has called for the urgent release of activist Rufat Safarov from prison in Azerbaijan. It has launched a campaign in support of the Azerbaijani human rights defender. https://www.omct.org/en/resources/urgent-interventions/arbitrary-detention-and-judicial-harassment-against-rufat-safarov
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