Secretary General of the Council of Europe Condemned the Presentation of New Charge against Ilgar Mamedov
Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjorn Yangland expressed concern and disappointment with the presentation of new criminal charges to the head of the civil movement "Republican Alternative» (ReAl) Ilgar Mamedov.
Recall that Mamedov was arrested on 4 February 2013 in connection with the events in Ismailly January 23-24. He was charged under articles 233 (organization of actions aimed at disturbing public order, or participation in them) and 315.2 (resistance to authority with violence) of the Criminal Code.
However, on May 1 Article 233 was replaced by Article 220.1 (organization of mass disorders accompanied by violence and pogroms), which defines a more severe punishment - up to 12 years in prison.
In this regard, on May 3 Yangland made a special statement.
"Despite the calls of the international community for the release of Ilgar Mamedov, the Azerbaijani authorities have put forward a new charge against him. This is particularly disappointing and disturbing in the light of Azerbaijan's chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, scheduled to start in May 2014.
The representative of the Council of Europe in Baku in February was not admitted to the primary trial of Ilgar Mamedov, and such visits were also not allowed to ambassadors of the European Council, who recently visited Azerbaijan. I urge the Azerbaijani authorities to engage in dialogue with the international community, " is said in the statement by Yangland.
This is the third Secretary General of the Council of Europe statement on the case of Mamedov after his arrest. In addition, Yangland twice talked on the phone to the lawyers of Mamedov.
Recall that Mamedov is also a director of the Baku School of Political Studies of the Council of Europe. -06D -
Politics
-
Armenia is not against the dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group, but does not consider it appropriate to discuss this issue now. "In the context of peace, we consider it possible to make a decision on the dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group. When peace is an established fact, the existence of such a format may raise questions," Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at a press conference today. "The whole question is about the timing, we need to understand how effectively and correctly to turn such topics into a subject of discussion right now," the Armenian Prime Minister added.
-
He expressed his willingness to meet with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev at the border between the two countries. "A meeting with Ilham Aliyev could take place at the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. I am open to such a format," Pashinyan said at a press conference today. According to Pashinyan, Armenia recently presented another proposal for a peace treaty to Azerbaijan.
-
On August 31, Azerbaijan observes a "day of silence" before the Sunday’s early parliamentary elections for the unicameral Milli Majlis. All electoral campaigning is prohibited 24 hours before the voting. The early elections were initiated by the ruling Yeni Azerbaijan Party. This decision was motivated by the overlap of the scheduled elections in November with the global UN forum - the COP20 climate conference taking place in Baku.
-
On August 30, at approximately 22:55, the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant in Metsamor was disconnected from the country's power grid, as reported by the Armenian Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure. The shutdown was caused by a lightning strike, which triggered the plant's safety systems to switch the station to a safe shutdown mode. Currently, the plant's staff is working on restarting the facility.
Leave a review