Nils Muzhnieks: We Are Not Idiots!(video)

Azerbaijani authorities are obliged to release political prisoners, including human rights defenders, journalists, bloggers and other activists. This was stated by the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights in an interview with Azerbaijani journalists.

The representative of a pro-government TV channel asked why the Council of Europe uses double standards, protecting the "separatist" Hilal Mamedov, and at the same time condemns the separatists in Ukraine?

"Hilal Mamedov is a representative of a national minority, scientist and journalist, who was illegally convicted in Azerbaijan, like many other journalists, bloggers, and social activists. And it's not just a matter of freedom of expression, but freedom of the legal system of Azerbaijan, which selectively arrests and condemns people, not based on law, but by a political order.

Since August last year, the process began to gain strength and has become widespread. And there is no other country of the Council of Europe, where all my partners are in prison, so do not talk about double standards," said Muzhnieks.

On the question of the same journalist, if CE takes into account the opinion of the Azerbaijani government or if it does not care, the Commissioner said he did not agree with this view and argued about this with the official Baku.

   "Listen, there are two possibilities: either the Council of Europe is composed of idiots who just cooperate with separatists, drug addicts, suicides and revolutionaries, or there is something very bad with the legal system of Azerbaijan. I can assure you - we are not idiots! "said Muzhnieks.

Asked by Turan, what he thinks about the fate of Khadija Ismailova, Rasul Jafarov and other political prisoners, the Commissioner replied that the Azerbaijani government should release them.

"They must release Khadija, Rasul, Hilal and all other human rights defenders, journalists and others who are unjustly in prison," he stressed. -16B-