Senatorlar Dik Durbin və Ben Kardin
Washington D.C./14.02.23/Turan: Key U.S. senators called on Monday urged Azerbaijan to release leading activist Bakhtiyar Hajiyev and other political prisoners immediately, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.
"I continue to believe Azerbaijan’s future should be in the community of democracies, but the detention of political prisoners, such as activist Bakhtiyar Hajiyev, undermines that path," Senator Dick Durbin, the second-highest-ranking Democrat in the Senate, noted.
"Azerbaijan should release Hajiyev and other political prisoners immediately," Durbin said in a tweet.
Senator Ben Cardin, co-chair of the Helsinki Commission, also called on the Azerbaijani government to immediately release Bakhtiyar Hajiyev, "who has been unjustly detained on false pretenses since December," as he put it.
"We can and will hold accountable all those who seek to undermine human rights," Cardin noted in a separate tweet.
Hajiyev was arrested on Dec 9 for alleged “hooliganism” and “disrespect for court”, claims that he strongly rejects and started a hunger strike.
Senators' tweets come after the State Department on Saturday renewed its call for Hajiyev’s expeditious release, noting that the activist has been suffering from a severe deterioration in his health and risks going into a coma, citing an independent physician.
Later on the weekend, the Department posted the following via its Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Bureau Twitter account: "We urge Azerbaijani authorities to immediately release human rights defenders Bakhtiyar Hajiyev and Elchin Mammad - and all those incarcerated for exercising fundamental freedoms - and to lift the house arrest and charges against Elchin Sadygov"
Alex Raufoglu
Politics
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The United States said on Friday it's hoping that Azerbaijan and Azerbaijan could finalize a peace agreement by COP29, the United Nations annual climate conference, which will take place in Baku this fall, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.
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On Friday, the Baku Serious Crimes Court continued the proceedings in the case of opposition politician Tofiq Yagublu. Yagublu's lawyers requested the summons of additional witnesses, including members of the National Council of Democratic Forces, opposition activists, and Yagublu’s wife, Maya Yagublu. Contrary to the prosecution's claims that Yagublu was involved in handing over money to facilitate a visa for Elshan Huseynov in the Zabrat settlement, his lawyers argued that he was actually attending a National Council meeting in the Pirshaghi settlement at that time. Witnesses can confirm this. The court partially granted the request, deciding to call four additional witnesses. The next court session is scheduled for October 18.
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Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated that peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan is not only possible but also within reach. He made this declaration during his address at the UN General Assembly. Pashinyan emphasized that both countries recognize each other's territorial integrity and the inviolability of borders established during the Soviet era.
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According to reports from "Abzas Media," the inmate in the Baku pre-trial detention facility-, Maleyka Bekirova was allegedly beaten on September 23 by the facility's warden, Adalat Gurbanov, when she attempted to make a phone call. The report claims that Gurbanov took Bekirova from her cell number 35 to an illegally established "punishment cell" and assaulted her. Witnesses allegedly described Gurbanov choking Bekirova and slapping her before throwing her onto a bunk, leaving marks on her face and chest.
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