National Council of Democratic Forces (NCDF) of Azerbaijan sent a letter to PACE criticized the activity of this structure. "All hopes on democracy were connected with the CE, which Azerbaijan joined become in 2001. But the expectations did not come true, and PACE has lost its credibility as a functional institution," the statement says.
Authors of the appeal reminded non-acceptance by members of the PACE the report of Christopher Strasser on political prisoners in Azerbaijan . "It was not a defeat of Strasser, it was a defeat of PACE, the victory "caviar diplomacy" and authoritarianism over democracy," the appeal says.
This has increased pressure of the authorities on the democratic camp, civil society, has increased the number of political prisoners and prisoners of conscience, amounting 140 people. President Ilham Aliyev justifies his repressive behavior by the position of PACE indicating the resolution of this structure on the absence of political prisoners in Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan's fulfillment of its obligations is still on paper. The authors of the appeal remind that short-term mission of the PACE observers positively assessed the last presidential elections in Azerbaijan.
Referring to the judicial system in Azerbaijan , authors of the appeal note that it has completely lost its credibility. Political activists, bloggers , journalists are arrested in the country on concocted charges (drugs, illegal weapons, riots, etc.) and subjected them to physical and mental torture. This does not comply with the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights.
Authors of the appeal remind about the famous scandal "Gulargeyt" about bargaining for the parliamentary mandate in which the MP is involved, and among involved in this transaction are named of senior government officials. This scandal has undermined confidence in parliament as the legitimate authority.
Situation in Azerbaijan is worse than before the accession to the Council of Europe, reads the statement. Situation with the independent media has deteriorated sharply, there is no independent television. Not only activists, but also their families are persecuted.
Democrats and civil society of Azerbaijan expect from PACE more principled position on the question of the structure on violating human rights and freedoms in Azerbaijan. -05D04-
Politics
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Adalyat Verdiyev, the head of the civil defense staff at the public legal entity Center for Public Health and Reform under the Ministry of Health, and a military expert, has been arrested. On November 22, during a media tour to the liberated territories, Verdiyev filmed and published information and images on his social media accounts revealing Azerbaijani Armed Forces' combat positions in the heights, deployment sites, coordinates, and operational conditions of the border troops. This disclosure caused significant damage to the interests of state security and defense capability. This was stated in a report from the General Prosecutor’s Office.
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On Monday, the Baku Appeals Court considered the appeal of Talysh researcher Iqbal Abilov against the extension of his detention for another four months. The defense argued that the decision to extend Abilov's detention was unjustified, lawyer Fariz Namazly told reporters.
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"Black Monday in Georgia: Police and special forces guard the doors behind which the 'slaves of Georgian Dream' are destroying our Constitution and mocking our Parliament." This is how Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili commented on the convening of the new parliament on Monday, which is not recognized by the opposition.
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Well-known Georgian activist Samira Bayramova was prevented from leaving the plane in Yerevan. She was on a WAW airline flight bound for Tbilisi, but due to bad weather, the plane made an emergency landing in Yerevan. In a post on her Twitter account, Bayramova (an ethnic Azerbaijani) wrote that border guards told her, "Your nationality is a problem."
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