Baku / 07/20/18 / Turan: The influential Paris newspaper Le Monde published today an article by Azerbaijani human rights defenders, the spouses Arif and Leila Yunus about the socio-political situation in their homeland.
The well-known human rights defenders, who have been forced to live in exile in Europe since 2016, write about the gross violations of human rights and freedoms by the ruling regime in Azerbaijan and about the transformation of the country into a monarchy under the guise of democracy.
"There is complete lack of freedom of choice - all elections in Azerbaijan (presidential, parliamentary and municipal) are held in the same scenario. The results of the "election" of the President are rather limited to how many votes were given to Aliyev and how many of his opponents were predetermined in the Presidential Administration. In the same place they in advance determine the future lists of MPs, both for the parliament and municipalities. The Central Election Commission fully controlled by the authorities only approves these "results", and theatrical actions called "elections" are organized for international observers.
There is no separation of powers into executive, legislative and judicial branches. It is the absence of independent courts that ensures the "success" of political repression and increases the number of political prisoners.
There is lack of freedom of speech - in 2015-2016 the last independent printed publications were closed. At the same time, punished and arrested for criticizing the policy of the authorities are not only journalists, but also bloggers, as well as all citizens who dared to write criticisms on their Facebook pages. It is noteworthy that even a special expression appeared in relation to these prisoners - "prisoners of Facebook", the article says.
Further, the spouses mention a scandal over the bribery of European MPs and politicians by the Azerbaijani authorities with a view to failing the report of the Council of Europe on political prisoners in the country.
This is what caused the brutal wave of repression against dissenting opponents of power. PACE actually gave a green light to these repressions, they note.
In 2014, these repressions regarded the couple Yunus and the activists who worked with them.
Having come to freedom only thanks to international protests, the couple left the country, but they draw attention to the 150 political prisoners who languish in the prisons of Azerbaijan.
The article reports the most notorious facts of repression in recent years, like the mass arrests of military and civilians in the Terter region and their extrajudicial killings.
The authorities set the goal to hide in prison all those who dared to financially help the opposition.
The latest fact was massive repression against the residents of Gence, who came out with a protest on the streets against the tyranny of the Mayor, who was shot by one of the city's residents.
Simultaneously, the authorities brought down their anger against the media, which widely covered the events, blocking access to their websites.
Leila and Arif Yunus call on the official Paris to remember all this, receiving Ilham Aliyev at a high level. -02D-
Want to say
-
In Ukraine, a brutal, bloody war caused by Russian aggression continues, claiming lives, destroying homes, demolishing infrastructure, and inflicting incalculable harm on the environment and surrounding natural ecosystems. Ukraine, more than anyone else in this world, strives for peace, as we bear the daily brutality of this Russian-Ukrainian war. We are at the forefront of the struggle for the right to life, freedom, and justice. Ukraine seeks a just peace that will lay a solid foundation for a stable future for Europe and the World, and the only way of achieving this is to implement President Volodymyr Zelensky's Peace Formula (the Ukrainian Peace Formula).
-
On the eve of a large-scale flood approaching Baku, a disturbing incident occurred in the village of Buzovna, where a Lada Priora car fell into the ground, literally collapsing the road beneath it. The driver miraculously remained unharmed but vowed to seek justice, promising to file an official complaint with the prosecutor’s office against Azersu OJSC, the state-owned water supply and sewerage company, often associated with deeply rooted corruption.
-
In a bit of historic irony, powerful oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili has managed to inspire rare unity across Georgia’s cacophonous political scene twice in his life. His money and influence forged the broad-based consolidation of opposition forces that brought him to power in 2012, and now, 12 years and three electoral cycles later, a similar pattern of opposition convergence could send him packing.
-
Russian authorities and pro-Kremlin influencers have been spreading false information about alleged Reporters Without Borders (RSF) research into Nazi tendencies within the Ukrainian military, which was featured in a viral video falsely attributed to the BBC. RSF exposes the inner workings of a disinformation campaign designed to justify President Vladimir Putin's war narrative.
Leave a review