State Dept On Azerbaijan Elections: U.S. Shares OSCE Concerns, Encourages Baku To Implement Commitments, Recommendations
State Dept On Azerbaijan Elections: U.S. Shares OSCE Concerns, Encourages Baku To Implement Commitments, Recommendations
The U.S. State Department on Thursday reacted to Azerbaijan’s presidential election, in which observers from the OSCE have raised "serious questions" about its validity, while incumbent Ilham Aliyev claimed to have secured a fifth term with more than 90 percent of the vote, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.
"We share the observations and concerns of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights monitoring mission that the presidential election occurred in a restrictive environment with a lack of genuine competition," a State Department spokesperson told TURAN.
"Azerbaijan has expressed its commitment to fundamental freedoms and democratic processes in its constitution. We encourage Azerbaijan to implement these commitments and ODIHR’s previous and forthcoming recommendations," a State Department spokesperson added.
The OSCE in a assessment concluded that the election was “not competitive” and “was held in a restrictive environment", citing among other restriction, indications of ballot box stuffing, lack of safeguards against multiple voting, recent arrests of critical journalists which it said, "have hindered the media from operating freely”.
Politics
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On February 3, the trial of public activist Nijat Ibrahim will begin in the Baku Serious Crimes Court. This decision was made on Wednesday at a preparatory hearing by Judge Aygun Gurbanova. According to lawyer Zibeida Sadigova, Ibrahim was taken to court in handcuffs. There were guards sitting next to him throughout the whole process.
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On January 23, Hilal Mammadov, a member of the Public Council of the Talysh people of Azerbaijan (PCTP), was summoned to the State Security Service (SSS) of Azerbaijan. As he himself informed Turan, the summons was delivered to him today by officers from the Nizami district department of the SSS.
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On January 22, the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan, Jeyhun Bayramov, and the Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom, David Lammy, held a telephone conversation.
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The court records from the trial of Teymur Kerimov, the head of the YouTube channel Kanal-11, were falsified, the declaration distributed by Kerimov's colleagues. “The court documents are distorted. They misrepresented the testimony of citizens. For instance, the victim Leila Almaszadeh stated in court that she had no complaints against me. In court, she said, “Teymur did not ask me for money and did not receive any money from me.” However, the court protocol states that she is complaining about me and demands the removal of illegally recorded videos,” writes Kerimov.
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