«Azerbaijan authorities are doing everything possible to put pressure on independent civil society in the country." This was stated by the representative of the Human Rights House Foundation Anne Tusvik Bunde commenting the conviction of Leila and Arif Yunus.
She urged the international community to express support for the human rights activists arrested in Azerbaijan, support their family and colleagues working in the "repressive environment."
"All political leaders and institutions have publicly called for the immediate and unconditional release of all the leaders of civil society," said Bunde.
In turn, the representative of Human Rights Watch Tatiana Lokshina, who was present at the sentencing, said: "The health status of Arif and Leila Yunus will not let them serve the sentence. This sentence is a death sentence for them."
The international human rights organization Freedom Now has also called for the release of Leila and Arif Yunus. Its Executive Director Maran Turner called the verdict on the spouses Yunus "shocking and shameful."
"Leila and Arif Yunus devoted much of their life to the protection of human rights and the resolution of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. In view of their state of health, the sentence is tantamount to execution," said Turner. -16D-
Politics
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Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian will hold talks in Moscow on January 17 and make statements for the press, according to the Kremlin's press service.
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On January 13, the trial in the case of public activist Nijat Ibrahim continued in the Baku Serious Crimes Court under the chairmanship of Judge Aygun Gurbanova. The trial was suspended after Ibrahim, in protest against the illegal arrest, began banging his head against the "aquarium cage", trying to commit suicide. At the beginning of the trial, he stated that he had been illegally detained for 4 months, and because of this, his family in Moldova was in a difficult situation, Turan announced this on its Twitter.
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The International Committee of Concerned Scholars (ICS) has appealed to the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, requesting his assistance in securing the release of the arrested researcher, Igbal Abilov. The ICS expressed concern that Abilov's arrest "may be related to his research on ethnic minorities in Azerbaijan, conducted in collaboration with scholars from Armenia."
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Georgia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Maka Botchorishvili, met with the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Azerbaijan to Georgia, Faig Guliyev.
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