Azerbaijani human rights defender Leila Yunus receives Theodore Hecker Award

Leila Yunus, a well-known Azerbaijani human rights defender, Director of the Institute for Peace and Democracy (IPD), was awarded the international prize named after Theodore Hecker. On May 5, the German town of Esslingen-am-Neckar held an award ceremony.

Opening the ceremony, Jurgen Seeger, Mayor of Esslingen-am-Neckar said that Leila Yunus had been awarded the prize "for her self-sacrificing contribution to the protection of human rights and civil freedoms in Azerbaijan." "Ms Leila Yunus was awarded for her participation in the fight against corruption, lawlessness and human rights violations, for courageous contribution to the defence of political prisoners, and for her activities as the head of the Institute for Peace and Democracy with risk to her own safety," he said.

Jurgen Seeger has emphasized that "being in breach of its international obligations, the Azerbaijani government broadly violates the rights and freedoms of citizens and regularly commits public violence against persons." To confirm his words, he referred to the studies of international non-governmental organizations. "International reports show a grim picture of human rights in the country. By the corruption index, Azerbaijan occupies the 134th place in the world, and on the freedom index the 156th place," Jurgen Seeger said.

Jurgen Seeger has assured that "Germany, like other countries of the European family, will do everything for the development of democracy and protection of human rights in Azerbaijan." He passed to Leila Yunus the message from Joachim Gauck, President of Germany, who congratulated the human rights defender and expressed his support for her efforts to protect democratic values in Azerbaijan.

Georg Restle, the editor of the "ARD", the German TV Channel, who was present at the award ceremony, said that he personally witnessed the self-sacrificing human rights activities of Leila Yunus. "I first saw this fragile woman at a protest action in the streets of Baku during the song contest 'Eurovision' held in last May, and I realized her difficult struggle with a corrupt regime," the journalist said.

Georg Restle has stressed that for an uncompromising struggle for the protection of citizens' property rights, Leila Yunus was deprived of her office. "In August 2011, the authorities demolished the building that belonged to the Institute for Peace and Democracy (IPD), and they did not even allow personnel to take things and documents out of the office. However, that fact did not stop the Leila Yunus' fight against the lawlessness," Georg Restle said.

The journalist criticized the German government for its cooperation with the authorities of Azerbaijan. "Germany still welcomes President of Azerbaijan, and some politicians are lobbying in favour of the official Baku," the editor of the "ARD" TV Channel said.

Leila Yunus herself expressed her gratitude for the honour rendered and welcomed the move as support for civil society in Azerbaijan in general. She drew attention to the problems of human rights in Azerbaijan.

"In Azerbaijan, human rights are violated practically in all spheres of life: the practice of unlawful arrests of political and civil society activists, journalists and bloggers is wide spread, and it has been intensified most recently, there is a prohibition on freedom of assembly, freedom of speech and media is being suffocated, and the citizens' property rights are being widely violated," Leila Yunus said.