(Meydan TV)
The Azerbaijani authorities have dropped new charges against imprisoned anti-corruption blogger Mehman Huseynov following large protests in the capital. Thousands gathered in Baku on Saturday calling for Huseynov’s release and an end to political prosecutions and corruption in the country.
Members of the opposition Musavat party on hunger strike (Khadija Ismayilova / Facebook)
At least 20 people both in prison and on the outside are now on hunger strike in Azerbaijan in protest against political prosecutions in the country, local activists say. [Read more…]
A poster saying ‘Freedom to political prisoners’ (Voice of America)
While Azerbaijan’s authorities deny that there are political prisoners in the country’s prisons at all — local and international rights groups disagree. Many former prisoners and their families complain that those locked up on political grounds face not only an unjust deprivation of their liberty, but special prohibitions such as on reading and speaking with their families. [Read more…]
2013 Azerbaijani opposition rally (RFE/RL)
Nearly five years after the Azerbaijani government began a renewed crackdown on dissenting voices, the environment remains hostile for opposition parties. The authorities create the semblance of a multi-party system by financing political parties whose role is to function as the opposition while maintaining the status quo. Some fear that suppressing genuine opposition and excluding it from the political arena will lead to more radical forms of activism, which could ultimately be damaging for the state.
Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev (L) arrives for a meeting with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker at the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium on February 6, 2017. (François Lenoir /Reuters)
Philippe Dam is advocacy director for Europe and Central Asia at Human Rights Watch.
The European Parliament, the EU’s elected representatives, have made clear they will not ratify a deal with Azerbaijan unless it improves it’s human rights record. The European Commission should now follow through with a clear message — Azerbaijan’s crackdown on dissent must end and political prisoners freed.
Leyla Mustafayeva with her daughter.
The number of political prisoners in Azerbaijan is among the highest in Europe. This repression serves not only as a tactic of intimidating journalists, activists, and the opposition, but also an instrument of foreign policy. [Read more…]
