Rapporteurs outraged by the Azerbaijani government’s reliance on the coronavirus pandemic to justify political repression
Strasbourg/27.03.20/Turan: Assembly rapporteurs Sunna Ævarsdottir (Iceland, SOC), Sir Roger Gale (United Kingdom, EC/DA) and Stefan Schennach (Austria, SOC)* today responded to reports that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, in his speech to mark the Nowruz holiday, had proposed the “isolation” of the country’s political opposition as a response to the coronavirus pandemic.
“I am astonished and appalled by the Azerbaijani government’s shameful exploitation of the coronavirus pandemic to launch yet another crack-down on the country’s beleaguered political opposition”, said Sir Roger Gale. “It beggars belief that any head of state would abuse a public health emergency in order to tighten his grip on power.”
“The language used by President Aliyev to describe his country’s legitimate political opposition as a traitorous ‘fifth column’ is profoundly undemocratic”, said Mr Schennach. “It is precisely in times of public emergency that political pluralism and responsibly exercised freedom of expression are most important, so as to allow open debate on policy and the free flow of information amongst the public.”
In response to the reported arrest and detention for ‘hooliganism’ of leading opposition politician Tofig Yagublu, Ms Ævarsdottir said that “everything I have heard so far suggests that the case against Mr Yagublu has been fabricated and he has once again been made a political prisoner. It looks very much as though the Azerbaijani government is launching yet another round of concerted political repression. This would not bode well for the country’s future standing in the Council of Europe.”
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* Respectively rapporteur for follow-up to Assembly Resolution 2322 (2020) on reported cases of political prisoners in Azerbaijan and co-rapporteurs for Azerbaijan of the Committee on the Honouring of Obligations and Commitments by Member States of the Council of Europe (Monitoring Committee).--0--
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- Social
- 27 March 2020 11:25
Politics
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Aziz Orujev, the health of the head of “Kanal-13” Internet TV, who is under arrest, has deteriorated, his lawyer Bahruz Bayramov told Turan. According to him, the journalist suffers from panic attacks. "His hands are shaking, his general condition is deteriorating dramatically," the lawyer said. Orujev is currently being treated at the Prison Service hospital.
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On May 1, the former head of the International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA), Jahangir Hajiyev, announced a hunger strike in prison N13 in protest against the absence of effective medical care and conditions of detention, his lawyer Hajiyev Fahraddin Mehdiyev, who met with his client on May 2, said Turan. According to him, Hajiyev suffers from thyroid disease, cardiac arrhythmia and hypertension. However, despite repeated appeals, he is not being transferred either to the Medical Institution of the penitentiary service or the medical and sanitary part of the colony, Mehdiyev said.
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Parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan are due to be held in November, but their dates may be postponed to an earlier date, the head of the CEC Mazahir Panahov stated at a meeting of this structure. The next parliamentary elections in November coincide with the COP29 climate conference, Panahov noted. "For this reason, a decision may be made to postpone the elections to an earlier period," he said.
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President Ilham Aliyev signed an order on the payment of a one-time allowance to veterans of the Second World War. Thus, the participants in the war will receive 2,000 thousand manats (about $ 1,200) each.
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