National Council Called to Protect PFPA

Baku / 27.07.20 / Turan: The Azerbaijani authorities continue to arrest activists of the Popular Front Party under the pretext of riots at a rally on July 14-15.

At the end of the rally, as a result of a likely provocation by the authorities, a group of people was allowed into the parliament building. Now this fact is being used for repressions against the Popular Front Party, sanctioned by the head of state, the National Council of Democratic Forces said in a statement.

False testimonies against other party members are beaten from the detainees.

"It is obvious that the government wants to prepare a" basis "for the persecution of the party's chairman, Ali Karimli," the statement said.

To date, more than 30 members of the Popular Front Party have been detained, 14 have been prosecuted, 13 are in custody, and one has been transferred to police supervision. 9 more activists were sentenced to administrative arrest.

“The absurdity is that most of the detained and persecuted did not participate in the meeting at all. Four of those arrested - Asif Yusifli, Bakhtiyar Imanov, Ayaz Maharramli and Fuad Gahramanli - are members of the party's presidium. Of these, only Asif Yusifli was at the rally, and did not commit any illegal actions, did not enter the parliament building.

His statement at the rally was published and he expressed support for the army. However, in order to initiate a criminal case against the leadership of the Popular Front Party, Asif Yusifli and three other members of the Presidium were charged with committing serious crimes,” the document says.

Fuad Gahramanli was presented an even more absurd accusation - an attempted coup. This means that the authorities want to aggravate the criminal case against the PFPA to accusations of an attempted coup.

On July 17, Ilham Aliyev voiced "completely false accusations that members of the Popular Front Party wanted to seize the parliament building and stage a coup d'etat." It was after this statement that Gahramanli was arrested.

The current repressions against the Popular Front Party are directly related to the desire of Ilham Aliyev to declare the party an "enemy" and completely destroy it.

To stop this campaign, which serves to completely suppress political freedoms, it is necessary for the international community to put pressure on the Azerbaijani authorities, the NCDF said.

"The protection of human rights and freedoms in Azerbaijan is also the duty of international organizations, of which we are members," the document says.

The National Council calls on the people of Azerbaijan, the progressive public of the country and everyone who has a sense of justice to resolutely support the PFPA and raise a voice in protest against the arrests of party members on trumped-up charges.

“Everyone who thinks about the future of our state and people should know that the current operation to destroy the PFPA is connected not only with the fate of this political organization, but with our common future,” the National Council said in a statement. —06D-