{"id":1626,"date":"2015-08-14T14:29:15","date_gmt":"2015-08-14T14:29:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/?p=1626"},"modified":"2015-08-14T14:41:37","modified_gmt":"2015-08-14T14:41:37","slug":"oscepa-eu-coe-condemn-sentences-against-leyla-and-arif-yunus-stigmatise-azerbaijans-crackdown-on-human-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/?p=1626","title":{"rendered":"OSCEPA, EU, CoE condemn sentences against Leyla and Arif Yunus; Stigmatise Azerbaijan’s crackdown on human rights"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chair of OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions<\/em><\/p>\n

Azerbaijan in \u2018anti-democratic free fall,\u2019 says OSCE PA\u2019s Santos following Yunus verdict<\/strong><\/p>\n

COPENHAGEN, 13 August 2015 \u2013 The Chair of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions, Isabel Santos (MP, Portugal), today condemned the sentencing of Azerbaijani rights activist Leyla Yunus and her husband, Arif, to lengthy prison terms and called on authorities to urgently begin respecting their OSCE commitments in the spheres of human rights and civil liberties.<\/p>\n

\"Azerbaijani<\/a>
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI am deeply saddened to learn of today\u2019s politically motivated court decision to lock away one of Azerbaijan\u2019s most prominent and courageous human rights defenders, Leyla Yunus, and her husband, Arif. The Azerbaijani authorities apparently know no shame in violating the basic OSCE standards that should have protected the Yunuses, such as respect for human rights, freedom of speech and rule of law. The anti-democratic free fall continues in Baku, and I urge the government to immediately reverse this trend,\u201d Santos said.<\/p>\n

Santos also noted that both Leyla and Arif Yunus are suffering from serious health conditions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Azerbaijani government, however, has an opportunity to make a powerful statement of a positive nature by releasing the Yunuses on humanitarian grounds. I appeal to the authorities to consider such a decision,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Chairperson Santos also reiterated her request to the Azerbaijani authorities to visit Leyla Yunus<\/a> and other detained rights defenders and journalists in the country. She expressed her continued openness to direct engagement with the authorities on these cases.<\/p>\n

European Union External Action Service<\/em>
\n
\nStatement by High Representative\/Vice-President Federica Mogherini on the sentencing of Leyla and Arif Yunus, prominent Human Rights Defenders in Azerbaijan<\/strong>
\n14\/08\/2015<\/p>\n

On 13 August, human rights defenders Dr Leyla Yunus and Mr Arif Yunus were sentenced by the Baku Court for Grave Crimes to 8.5 and 7 years imprisonment respectively, on charges including fraud.<\/p>\n

The legal process leading to these convictions was, as reported by the international monitors observing the trials, seriously flawed. The charges moreover seem to be connected solely to their human rights work. The sentencing confirms the negative trend when it comes to Azerbaijan’s respect for its international commitments on human rights and fundamental freedoms.<\/p>\n

We call on Azerbaijan to release Leyla and Arif Yunus, while their cases need to be reviewed in a transparent and fair process.<\/p>\n

Council of Europe<\/em><\/p>\n

Azerbaijan: Council of Europe protests Leyla and Arif Yunus jail terms<\/strong><\/p>\n

Secretary General Thorbj\u00f8rn Jagland, Parliamentary Assembly President Anne Brasseur and Commissioner for Human Rights Nils Mui\u017enieks, have reacted strongly to the jailing of Azerbaijan activists Leyla and Arif Yunus.<\/p>\n

According to reports, Leyla Yunus received an eight-and-a-half year jail sentence for fraud and tax evasion. Her husband, Arif Yunus, was sentenced to seven years imprisonment on similar charges.<\/p>\n

The Spokesperson of Secretary General Jagland confirmed that a request is to be made to the Azerbaijani authorities for the full details of the court judgment and the evidence presented against the defendants.<\/p>\n

A statement<\/a> published today reads: \u201cIn view of the known systemic deficiencies in the Azerbaijani judicial system and the worrying trend of increasing cases against human rights defenders and journalists, which in turn has a chilling effect on freedom of expression in the country, he (Jagland) is of the opinion that the conviction will eventually have to be examined by the European Court of Human Rights.<\/p>\n

Anne Brasseur, President of the Parliamentary Assembly<\/a>, revealed that she was \u201cshocked and outraged\u201d by the legal action against Leyla and Arif Yunus.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Council of Europe has repeatedly urged the authorities to stop the unprecedented crackdown on civil society \u2013 including reprisals and judicial harassment of human rights defenders and independent media \u2013 and address human rights problems in the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cDespite these appeals, the situation has not improved. It has worsened. The people targeted, the type of charges, the length of sentences, obvious shortcomings in trials, all put in question the authorities\u2019 willingness to respect the fundamental values of the Council of Europe. Today\u2019s decision is further proof of serious and systemic human rights problems in Azerbaijan.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn its June 2015 resolution<\/a> on Azerbaijan, the assembly called the authorities to \u2018put an end to systemic repression of human rights defenders, the media and those critical of the government\u2019, to \u2018release all political prisoners\u2019 and to \u2018stop the reprisal of journalists and others who express critical opinions.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cToday\u2019s decision shows that these appeals have fallen on deaf ears in Baku. Therefore, I once again urge the authorities to take a step back and re-examine their approach to human rights, in line with the commitments they have made to the values and standards of the Council of Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Human rights commissioner Nils Mui\u017enieks<\/a>, echoed similar views.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am appalled and saddened by Baku Court\u2019s decision to sentence Leyla and Arif Yunus to respectively 8 years and a half and 7 years of prison,\u201d Mui\u017enieks wrote on his Facebook page.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese sentences are a glaring illustration of the ongoing repression in Azerbaijan, where human rights defenders are selectively targeted with criminal prosecutions on charges that defy credibility.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my intervention before the European Court of Human Rights last April (http:\/\/bit.ly\/1Mmbvud<\/a>) I argued why Leyla and Arif, as well as other Azerbaijani human rights defenders should not be in prison.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is high time that the Azerbaijani authorities end the repression and show more attachment to the values of human rights, democracy and rule of law that they have committed to by joining the Council of Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chair of OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions Azerbaijan in \u2018anti-democratic free fall,\u2019 says OSCE PA\u2019s Santos following Yunus verdict [more >>>]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1629,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-azerbaijan","category-azerbaijan-human-rights"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1626"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1626\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1631,"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1626\/revisions\/1631"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}