The United States is disturbed by the reported abduction in Tbilisi, Georgia, and subsequent arrest in Azerbaijan of Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Mukhtarli on May 30. We are also troubled by the May 25 arrest in Azerbaijan of deputy Popular Front Party chairperson Gozal Bayramli.
We urge the government of Azerbaijan to release all those incarcerated for exercising their fundamental freedoms in accordance with its international and OSCE commitments.
We are closely following the Georgian investigation into the reported abduction, and urge that it be full, transparent, and timely.-0-
Politics
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Another column of military equipment of Russian peacekeepers left Azerbaijan today. Several dozens of armoured personnel carriers were loaded on the railway station Goran (near the regional centre of Geranboy) and taken to Russia.
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Aide to Azerbaijani President Hikmet Hajiyev met with US President's National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan at the White House within the framework of his visit to the US on 17 May.
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Health condition of the former head of the International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA), Jahangir Hajiyev, who is serving a prison sentence in Colony 13, has deteriorated. He is not receiving qualified medical care, lawyer Fakhraddin Mehdiyev, who met with Hajiyev on 17 May, told Turan.
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Representatives of the ruling Traffic Light coalition of the German Bundestag called for the release of political prisoners in Azerbaijan.
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