More than 50 leading NGOs in Azerbaijan made statements in advance of the proposed reactionary amendments to legislation designed to limit the activities of civil society.
"Recently, the Azerbaijani authorities have consistently pursued anti-democratic steps to tighten laws on freedom of association, assembly and expression. Bans on freedom of assembly, the use of large fines for taking part in the rallies, mass arrests, the creation of artificial barriers to the work of NGOs not only in the regions, but also in Baku are the links in the chain of systematic attack on the civilian society," reads the statement NGOs received by Turan.
The authors of the statement call on the authorities to refrain from tightening controls over civil society. They also call on international organizations and diplomatic missions to promote dialogue between government and civil society.
On Wednesday, a parliamentary committee on legal policy approved amendments to the legislation establishing penalties from 500 to 15,000 manat for not providing information about the NGO grant agreement, receipt of donations and other aid without the grant agreements, donations received in cash. The funds, which are objects of the offense, will be confiscated.
Civil society activists point out that because some NGOs are not registered, those NGOs cannot legally enter into grant agreements. In addition, some donors from abroad have contracts in electronic form, and Azeri notaries do not register them. Besides, donors often make small donations in cash. In view of these objective reasons, it is unfair to penalize NGOs, which is equivalent to their actual elimination.–06D--
Politics
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On Thursday, President Ilham Aliyev received the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Alain Berset, who arrived to participate in the COP29 climate conference.
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During the ongoing COP29 climate conference in Baku on November 14, a group of activists staged a protest condemning Russia's aggression against Ukraine. The activists also denounced countries that supply oil and weapons to nations waging aggressive wars. The protest featured placards with slogans such as: "From fossil fuels to peace!", "End war crimes!", "Punish the aggressor!", and "Phase out fossil fuel use to achieve peace!" among others.
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The United States and the European Union, which tried to position themselves as mediators in the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, have come up with nothing and merely copied Russia's ideas, distorting their essence in order to "hijack" the peace process for themselves. However, their true goal was to take control of the region, to insert themselves into it, and to push out Russia, as well as Iran and Türkiye, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated at a briefing on November 13.
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