President of PACE Pedro Agramunt will continue talks with the Azerbaijani authorities on the fate of the leader of the REAL Movement Ilgar Mamedov, who was arrested in 2013 and has not yet been freed, despite the decision of the European Court of Human Rights. Agramunt told about it in his speech at the PACE session in Strasbourg on Monday. He welcomed the recent release of a large number of political prisoners in Azerbaijan.
«Recently, Azerbaijan freed a large number of political prisoners. As you are aware, I have been working extensively on this issue and, during my recent visit to Baku, I received assurances that the authorities would soon take steps to address the issue.
These assurances were largely met.
I am relieved and happy that so many people could return to their families – sometimes after many years in prison. We have to acknowledge that the release of these persons is a step in the right direction. I see it as a sign of good will to pursue co-operation with the Council of Europe and to begin to address the systemic deficiencies including in the functioning of the judiciary.
Equally, I would like to welcome the recent decision of the authorities of Azerbaijan to proceed to a re-run of the parliamentary elections in constituency 90. The results in this constituency were annulled due to irregularities and the re-run was recommended by the Council of Europe observers.
I shall continue my talks with the authorities to address the cases of those remaining in detention and in particular the situation of Ilgar Mammadov who has been in detention since February 2013, despite the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights finding serious violations of the Convention in the legal proceedings against him.
I also support the efforts of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe to step up co-operation with the authorities, including through the so called Article 52 Report, so as to ensure full implementation of the Convention in Azerbaijan,» said Agramunt.—16D-
Politics
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This year, the laureate of the annual Nargiz Prize, awarded for efforts in the fight for democracy, was Akif Gurbanov, chairman of the board of the Resplatforma (Platform of the III Republic) movement, who is under arrest.
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The U.S. will prohibit the issuing of visas for nearly a dozen more individuals responsible for undermining democracy in Georgia, bringing the total number to over 100, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.
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The President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, has expressed condolences to the President of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, following the tragic incident in the city of Magdeburg. "We are deeply shocked by the news of the deaths and injuries resulting from the tragic incident that took place at the Christmas market in Magdeburg," the message reads.
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By the order of the head of state, Vusal Aslanov has been appointed Chairman of the Baku Metro CJSC.
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