ArmInfo. We are concerned about the situation in our neighboring country, in Azerbaijan. This was stated by head of the Bright Armenia parliamentary faction Edmon Marukyan from the PACE rostrum.
He noted that Armenia needs a stable, predictable and democratic neighbor. Marukyan touched on a report on political prisoners in Azerbaijan. According to the MP, this report sheds light on gross violations of human rights, which lead to an increase in the number of political prisoners.
"It is important to note that the number of political prisoners in Azerbaijan has increased over the past 8-10 years. The report also includes information on" alleged political prisoners ", which means that this number will increase in subsequent years. This is a big problem. Naturally, human rights violations and the presence of political prisoners in the country, in any country, are of concern. However, one should take into account the fact that Azerbaijan is making every possible effort to present itself to the international community as a democratic country in which human rights are respected. Thus, even the fact of the existence of political prisoners in the country, the presence of which is considered a crime, is quite alarming, " Marukyan said.
The MP said that he wants to pay special attention to a large number of human rights violations, which are not limited to false criminal charges, but also to torture, intimidation and pressure not only on the accused, but also on their family members, representatives of civil society, supporters of their political views. , as well as violations of the right to a fair trial. "I also want to emphasize that the target of the AR authorities is the leaders of NGOs, human rights activists, political activists, journalists, bloggers and lawyers. This is due to the fact that the Azerbaijani authorities are unable to listen to and consider an alternative or critical opinion," Marukyan emphasized.
He noted that given the importance of the problem, Marukyan supports the Rapporteur's initiative to hold hearings with experts and organize a study visit to Azerbaijan. "I urge the EU institutions to take joint actions to study and propaganda and the anti-democratic situation in Azerbaijan," the MP concluded.
To note, PACE Rapporteur Thorhildur Sunna Aevarsdottir presented a report on political prisoners in Azerbaijan. After that, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted the resolution "Case on communications in connection with political prisoners in Azerbaijan" and Recommendations in connection with it. In turn, members of the Azerbaijani delegation did not agree with this report. Head of the Azerbaijani delegation, Samad Seyidov, accused the speaker of bias and free interpretation of the decisions of the ECHR, as well as of "interference" in the upcoming parliamentary elections in February, deliberately casting doubt on their "democracy."
The Rapporteur reacted to criticism, saying that she understood why there are political prisoners in Azerbaijan. "You are not tolerant of criticism," Aevarsdottir said.