“The unprecedented speed with which the Yunus trial was carried out is appalling and tells us a lot about its quality. The judgement is full of inaccuracies due to a total lack of examination of the evidence provided. Violations of international standards of the right to a fair trial were obvious,” declared Gerald Staberock, Secretary General of OMCT.
“It is a shameful verdict that was unfortunately foreseeable since the beginning of their pre-trial detention one year ago” he added.
Leyla Yunus has lost at least 16 kg since her arrest. She also suffers from a severe case of diabetes. In addition, her cellmate has violently accosted her on a number of occasions. Nonetheless, no measures were taken by the penitentiary authorities to ensure her physical integrity. Arif Yunusov suffers from high blood pressure and has lost consciousness several times, including during the August 3 hearing which had to be adjourned when he had to be taken away in an ambulance. His lawyer declared that his client’s health did not permit him to participate in the hearings any longer. However, this did not prevent the trial from continuing as scheduled.
The Observatory also recalls that in addition to this trial, Leyla Yunus and Arif Yunusov still face charges of “state treason,” which will be the object of a separate, future trial.
“Our organisations strongly condemn sentences in the Yunus case, as well as all the previous sentences against other human rights defenders in the country.They only aimed to silence critical voices,” said FIDH Honorary President, Souhayr Belhassen. “We will continue to call for the authorities in Azerbaijan to immediately and unconditionally release the Yunus couple and all human rights defenders currently detained in Azerbaijan for their work,” she added.
In its turn, Samanta Power , US Ambassador to UN called “Terrible injustice” sentence of Leyla and Arif Yunus. -16D-
Politics
-
Russian investigators have confirmed that the crash of flight 8243, operated by Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL), was the result of a missile strike, according to new findings from sources close to the investigation, as reported by the Azerbaijani pro-government outlet AnewZ.
-
Azerbaijan's private broadcaster Baku TV aired a report on Friday accusing the "Russian House" in Baku of engaging in anti-Azerbaijani espionage activities under the guise of cultural and humanitarian work. The report, citing "trusted sources" without disclosing details, alleged that the Russian cultural center is fostering inter-ethnic discord and operating as a hub for intelligence activities.
-
On January 24, the Baku Court of Appeals considered an appeal regarding the arrest of journalist Farid Ismailov. According to his lawyer Zibeyda Sadigova, the defense argued that there was no need to keep the journalist in custody, citing his health problems and the fact that the preliminary investigation had already been completed.
-
The human rights situation in Azerbaijan in 2024 was characterized by an increase in repression against journalists, activists, and religious groups, the annual report of the NGO "Line of Defense," presented on January 24 by member of the organization, human rights activist Zafar Ahmedov.
Leave a review