HRW urges Azerbaijani authorities to release Tofig Yagublu

The international human rights organization "Human Rights Watch" (HRW) urged the Azerbaijani authorities to set free opposition politician Tofig Yagublu. The defence reported that the complaints about the arrest had been dismissed.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Tofig Yagublu, a member of the "Musavat" Party and of the Coordinating Centre of the National Council of Democratic Forces (NCDF), was detained on March 22. The activist was accused of committing a road traffic accident and assaulting a married couple. The "Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe" Party associates the arrest of the activist with the authorities' repressive measures against the opposition.

Tofig Yagublu, one of the Azerbaijani leading oppositionists, has been arrested for his political activities, emphasizes Catherine Pilishvili, Senior Associate for the Europe and Central Asia Division at the HRW's New York Office.

Catherine Pilishvili noted that Tofig Yagublu was arrested after President Ilham Aliev had threatened to isolate the opposition.

The HRW's Senior Associate for the Europe and Central Asia Division notes that in Azerbaijan, activists are taken into custody while "the governments around the world are urged to decrease the population of people in detention by using alternatives to pre-trial custody, thereby reducing the risk of spreading COVID-19." Meanwhile, the SIZO (pre-trial prison) where Tofig Yagublu is placed is notorious for severe overcrowding and dirty cells, thus "degrading human dignity."

Moreover, Tofig Yagublu suffers from health problems "that could put him at higher risk of serious illness should he contract COVID-19."