The U.S. Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, Thomas Melia, held on December 10-11, two meetings with representatives of civil society in Azerbaijan.
Theme of the meeting was the democracy and human rights, freedom of speech and the rule of law. The sides exchanged views on developments in the political situation in Azerbaijan, the problems and challenges facing the country.
Questions have been raised on the upcoming presidential elections next year, the role and place of civil society and its participation in the political process; issues of foreign and domestic policy of official Baku.
A question was raised about the problems of "Azadlig" newspaper, which is threatened the closure. Civil society representatives expressed their concern about the negative trends and the continued pressure on freedom of speech and expression. -02В-
Politics
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On 4 February, the Baku Court of Appeal released former Russian judge Yelena Khakhaleva, who was arrested in Azerbaijan at the request of the Russian Prosecutor's Office.
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Afgan Sadygov, the head of the Azerbaijani website Azel.TV, who has been on a dry hunger strike since February 2 in the Tbilisi detention center, lost consciousness on Tuesday evening, his wife Sevinc Sadygova told Turan.
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On February 5, a preparatory hearing was held in the Baku Court for Serious Crimes, chaired by Vugar Ibrahimov, in the case of former diplomat Emin Ibrahimov. The main hearings are scheduled for February 12.
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The report on the investigation into the AZAL plane crash, published by the Ministry of Transport of Kazakhstan, is "preliminary and does not contain conclusions about the causes of the incident," a message from “Rosaviatsiya” – the Federal Air Transport Agency of Russia. “Rosaviatsiya” noted that the work of the commission will continue, and conclusions about the incident will be presented in the final report.
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