OSCE PA President welcomes dropping of criminal proceedings against Mehman Huseynov
Copenhagen/23.01.19/Turan: OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President George Tsereteli (Georgia) today welcomed reports from Azerbaijan that the General Prosecutor"s Office has terminated a criminal case against anti-corruption blogger and chair of the media NGO Institute for Reporters" Freedom and Safety Mehman Huseynov. Huseynov has been detained on defamation charges since March 2017 and in December 2018, new charges were initiated against him that could have extended his imprisonment by seven years.
"I am happy that the new charges against Mr. Huseynov have been dropped and that he can once again look forward to his expected release date in early March," President Tsereteli said. "When I visited Mr. Huseynov and observed his prison conditions just under a year ago, I expressed hope that he would be released soon. Therefore, the initiation of new charges against him in December was a cause for deep concern and I am relieved that these criminal proceedings have been terminated. I have followed his case closely and regularly raised it in my discussions with parliamentary colleagues and Azerbaijani authorities, including President Aliyev, and am pleased that he has paid personal attention to this case."
Tsereteli added that democratic reforms in Azerbaijan, particularly on freedom of the media and on creating conditions to maximize the contribution of civil society, should continue.
Last week, the Chair of the OSCE PA"s human rights committee, Margareta Kiener Nellen (MP, Switzerland), raised concerns over Huseynov"s treatment and reiterated the call by OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir for the authorities to drop new criminal charges brought against him. -02D-
Politics
-
On 26 July "Platform III of the Republic" made a statement which drew attention to the unlawful seizure of electronic devices of underage children of the arrested head of this structure Akif Gurbanov.
-
From 19 to 26 July, 24 automatic rifles, 1 machine gun, 9 rifles, 28 grenades, 441 shells, 3118 cartridges of different calibre and other ammunition were found in Khankendi, the Azerbaijani Interior Ministry reported. During the mentioned period, the police found 1 machine gun, 50 grenades, 7 fuses, 3 shells and 320 cartridges of different calibre in Shusha.
-
President Ilham Aliyev has approved by decree the Azerbaijan-Kazakh intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in military intelligence defense sector. The document was signed in Baku on 7 June 2024.
-
At the trial of the opposition politician Tofig Yagublu, the statement of Elnur Vaqifoglu, another accused, was heard at the Baku Serious Crimes Court.
Leave a review