“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
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The annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) 2025 in Davos, Switzerland, from January 20-24, will gather around 3,000 leaders from more than 130 countries under the theme "Cooperation for the Intellectual Age," emphasizing the urgent need for dialogue in an era of increasing uncertainty.
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The repair of the underwater pipeline transporting condensate from the Shah Deniz field’s “Alpha” production platform in the Caspian Sea to the Sangachal terminal may extend until the end of this week, reports Turan, citing informed sources.
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President Ilham Aliyev participated in the Abu Dhabi Sustainable Development Week 2025. The summit, which brought together global leaders, politicians, and industry pioneers, provided a platform for discussions on addressing the most pressing issues of our time.
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The Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW) 2025, held under the patronage of UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, began on January 12, focusing on addressing global sustainability challenges and fostering transformational change.
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