U.S. Says 'Remains Focused On Diplomacy' In Addressing Azerbaijan's Crackdown On Dissent
U.S. Says 'Remains Focused On Diplomacy' In Addressing Azerbaijan's Crackdown On Dissent
The United States said on Tuesday that it 'remains focused on diplomacy' in addressing Azerbaijan's ongoing crackdown on dissent, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.
"We’re going to continue to remain focused on diplomacy," State Department's Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel told a daily briefing when asked by TURAN about the latest arrests of civil society members, including a former diplomat and a minority activist in Azerbaijan.
"I don’t have any updates to offer on the things that the United States may be considering otherwise," Patel said when pressed about the tools that the U.S. had been using to address the issue.
Last week, another government critic, a former diplomat, was detained in Baku on stabbing charges, something that he categorically denies. Separately, the authorities have arrested an ethnic Talysh researcher on charges of treason and inciting ethnic hatred.
Patels comments came days after the State Department's spokesperson Matthew Miller, in a tweet, expressed his concerns over the latest arrests in Azerbaijan, renewing calls for the government to release well-known scholar Gubad Ibadoghlu "and all others who are unjustly detained," as he put it.
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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