PACE co-rapporteurs refute a core of their report

Pedro Agramunt and Joseph Debono Grech, monitoring co-rapporteurs on Azerbaijan of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), have expressed their deep concern with negative development of the events in Azerbaijan, including the detention, trial and sentencing of peaceful demonstrators and the arrest of opposition politicians.

“There have been most worrying reports about unfair court hearings and alleged ill-treatment with detainees. In Baku on 26 January, during of peaceful demonstration were detained about 80 men, following a peaceful protest against the authorities’ violent dispersal of another, larger protest in the northern city of Ismayili three days earlier. Thirty of the Baku demonstrators were charged and five were sentenced to prison.

We call on the Azerbaijani authorities to review the cases of protesters and activists detained when demonstrating peacefully, and after trials whose conformity with human rights standards has been called into question by civil society and the international community. All reports of alleged torture and ill-treatment in custody should be thoroughly investigated and those responsible should be punished”.

They also expressed their concern at the arrests two days ago, on accusations of inciting the Ismayili protests, of two opposition politicians – the leader of the Republican Alternative movement Ilgar Mammadov, and the deputy head of the Musavat Party Tofig Yagublu.

“These arrests give rise to justified doubts and legitimate concerns. We urge the Azerbaijani authorities to use all available legal tools to release these arrested opposition politicians”.

“The fairness of the judicial process must be ensured, as well as transparency during investigations. Freedom of assembly and freedom of expression are basic human rights which must be guaranteed in every Council of Europe member state”, – stated co-rapporteurs, putting their hands to perpetrated arbitrariness.

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