27 March 2020, 18:37
CE condemns Aliev's words on isolation of opposition
Azerbaijani authorities must release the opposition politician, Tofig Yagublu, arrested on charges of hooliganism, the Council of Europe (CE) has stated. International human rights organizations have treated the use of coronavirus pretext to isolate the opposition as undemocratic.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on March 25, the human rights organizations, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the Amnesty International (AI) condemned the arrest of Tofig Yagublu.
The PACE (Parliamentary Assembly of the CE) has also reacted to Yagublu's arrest after the proposal of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev to "isolate" the country's political opposition as part of measures against the coronavirus pandemic. "I am shocked by the shameful use of the coronavirus pandemic by the Azerbaijani government to launch another campaign of suppressing the country's political opposition," Roger Gale, a Co-Rapporteur for Azerbaijan of the PACE's Monitoring Committee, the CE's website has reported.
Yagublu's case was fabricated; and the oppositionist himself has become a political prisoner, Sunna Evarsdottir (Iceland), the PACE's Rapporteur on alleged political prisoners in Azerbaijan, is sure.
The date for considering the appeal against Yagublu's arrest has not been appointed, said Elchin Sadygov, an advocate. According to his story, any violations of the deadline for considering the appeal will be challenged during the submission of a complaint to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).
Yagublu's case is "frankly falsified," Nigyar Khazi, Tofig's daughter, believes.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on March 27, 2020 at 11:50 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
Author: Faik Medjid Source: CK correspondent
