Tweet
AZERBAIJAN ARRESTS DOZENS OF ALIYEV OPPONENTS AHEAD OF POLLS: RIGHTS GROUP
October 1, 2013 - 17:31 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - Azerbaijan has arrested dozens of President Ilham
Aliyev's opponents in a pre-election crackdown that has more than
doubled the number of political prisoners in the former Soviet
republic, a rights watchdog said on Tuesday, October 1, according
to Reuters.
The Azerbaijan-based Human Rights Club said 142 journalists, religious
activists and human rights defenders were now being held in prison on
political grounds, a week before an October 9 presidential election
that Aliyev is expected to win.
That compares with 60 prisoners the group said were being held on
political grounds in January in Azerbaijan, an oil-producing country
of around 9 million people.
"The authorities seem intent on silencing all voices of criticism
and dissent in the run-up to the election," said Rasul Jafarov,
the group's chairman.
It said Aliyev had been emboldened to crack down on opponents since
the defeat of a resolution in January by the Parliamentary Assembly of
the Council of Europe that was intended to put pressure on Azerbaijan
over human rights.
"Members of PACE must take action to address their failure to hold
the Azerbaijani government accountable for these serious violations
... by calling for the immediate release of all political prisoners in
the country," said Human Rights Club Advocacy Director Rebecca Vincent.
Azerbaijan, a mainly Muslim country in the South Caucasus, dismisses
accusations of human rights abuses and says its citizens enjoy full
democratic freedoms.
The group added to concerns voiced by the Organisation for Security
and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and Reporters Without Borders, who
on Monday condemned the imprisonment of prominent Azeri journalist
and human rights activist Khilal Mamedov.
He is serving a five-year jail sentence on charges of treason, drug
possession and "fomenting national strife".
Mamedov, editor-in-chief of a newspaper in Azerbaijan's southern
ethnic-Talysh region, was arrested in June 2012. His lawyers have
called the case against him "absurd".
Rights groups accuse Aliyev, in power since his father Heydar's death
in 2003, of curbing dissent and freedom of speech in Azerbaijan,
which is criss-crossed by oil and natural gas pipelines and exports
fuel to Europe.
Azerbaijan's strategic location between Turkey, Russia and Iran and
its role as a transit route for U.S. troops to reach Afghanistan have
cushioned it from Western criticism, rights activists say.
http://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/170707/
October 1, 2013 - 17:31 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - Azerbaijan has arrested dozens of President Ilham
Aliyev's opponents in a pre-election crackdown that has more than
doubled the number of political prisoners in the former Soviet
republic, a rights watchdog said on Tuesday, October 1, according
to Reuters.
The Azerbaijan-based Human Rights Club said 142 journalists, religious
activists and human rights defenders were now being held in prison on
political grounds, a week before an October 9 presidential election
that Aliyev is expected to win.
That compares with 60 prisoners the group said were being held on
political grounds in January in Azerbaijan, an oil-producing country
of around 9 million people.
"The authorities seem intent on silencing all voices of criticism
and dissent in the run-up to the election," said Rasul Jafarov,
the group's chairman.
It said Aliyev had been emboldened to crack down on opponents since
the defeat of a resolution in January by the Parliamentary Assembly of
the Council of Europe that was intended to put pressure on Azerbaijan
over human rights.
"Members of PACE must take action to address their failure to hold
the Azerbaijani government accountable for these serious violations
... by calling for the immediate release of all political prisoners in
the country," said Human Rights Club Advocacy Director Rebecca Vincent.
Azerbaijan, a mainly Muslim country in the South Caucasus, dismisses
accusations of human rights abuses and says its citizens enjoy full
democratic freedoms.
The group added to concerns voiced by the Organisation for Security
and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and Reporters Without Borders, who
on Monday condemned the imprisonment of prominent Azeri journalist
and human rights activist Khilal Mamedov.
He is serving a five-year jail sentence on charges of treason, drug
possession and "fomenting national strife".
Mamedov, editor-in-chief of a newspaper in Azerbaijan's southern
ethnic-Talysh region, was arrested in June 2012. His lawyers have
called the case against him "absurd".
Rights groups accuse Aliyev, in power since his father Heydar's death
in 2003, of curbing dissent and freedom of speech in Azerbaijan,
which is criss-crossed by oil and natural gas pipelines and exports
fuel to Europe.
Azerbaijan's strategic location between Turkey, Russia and Iran and
its role as a transit route for U.S. troops to reach Afghanistan have
cushioned it from Western criticism, rights activists say.
http://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/170707/