Afghan Mukhtarli: Baku's New "Headache"
The topic of human rights in Azerbaijan again appeared in the center of international attention. The European Parliament calls upon Azerbaijani authorities to immediately release and drop all charges against Afgan Mukhtarli, an investigative journalist exiled in Georgia, from where he was abducted on May 29 and brought to Azerbaijan. He now faces prosecution and possibly a prison sentence of several years "following bogus charges", MEPs said, the official website of the European Parliament reports.
Azerbaijani authorities should end the selective criminal prosecution and imprisonment of journalists and human rights defenders, immediately release all political prisoners, and ensure compliance with fair trial norms, MEPs stress in a resolution adopted on Thursday.
Parliament also urged the Georgian authorities to conduct a thorough investigation of Mukhtarli’s disappearance and to clarify "beyond any doubt all suspicion regarding the involvement of Georgian state agents".
It should be noted that Baku's response to this resolution did not come late. Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, described this resolution, like other resolutions on the violations of human rights in Azerbaijan, as biased and fabricated. Zayfet Askerov, the first Vice-Speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament in his turn noted that the European Parliament's resolution might have a negative impact on bilateral relations.
It is obvious that Baku is going to complete the case of Mukhtarli. As a result of the continuing repression in Azerbaijan voices of independent journalism has been silenced in the recent years (according to the report of "Reporters without Borders" 2017 on press freedom index, Azerbaijan ranks 162th among 180 countries). However, the criticism of the Azerbaijani authorities continues by media operating abroad. With the case of Mukhtarli Baku is trying to make Azerbaijani media operating abroad understand that they are not so unavailable for Aliyev's authoritarian regime.
Other materials on this subject
- Magnifier: Baku’s Imitation of Democracy And Peace-loving The program “Magnifier” dealt with issues related to human rights, recent amnesty and peace preparation in Azerbaijan.
- European Court Announces Two New Decisions against Azerbaijan The Strasbourg Court decided that each applicant should be paid an award of EUR 7,500 and another EUR 2,500 to reimburse the court expenses.
- ECHR Rejects Azerbaijan’s Appeal: What Is Next? The following measures will be either to suspend Azerbaijan’s voting rights and to expel Azerbaijan from the organisation.
- Composer of "The Promise" Movie Song Got Human Rights Watch Award The inaugural honor was given to the late legendary singer and songwriter Chris Cornell in recognition of his song, The Promise. The award was presented at The Voices for Justice Human Rights Watch Annual...
- UNESCO: 930 Journalists Have Been Killed in Last 11 Years In 2016 alone, the UNESCO Director-General condemned the killing of 102 journalists, media workers, and social media producers of public interest journalism. In 2012, the deadliest year for journalists,...
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