Tuesday, August 4 2020 11:40

ArmInfo. It is unacceptable that President Aliyev is using the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent spike in military tensions with Armenia as an excuse to wipe out what remains of the political opposition in the country. This is stated in  the statement of the vice-president of the Social Democratic Faction  of the European Parliament Kati Piri, regarding the situation with  human rights in Azerbaijan.

Thus, in her statement, Piri expressed concern over the persecution  by the Azerbaijani authorities of Fuad Gahramanli, deputy chairman of  the opposition People's Front of Azerbaijan (PFA).  "We are alarmed  by credible reports of severe torture inflicted by Azerbaijani law  enforcement agencies on Fuad Gahramanli, the deputy chair of the  opposition People's Front of Azerbaijan (PFA) party.  Mr. Gahramanli  is one among dozens of the opposition figures arrested by the regime  of the President Ilham Aliyev on flimsy charges of preparing a coup,  with the leader of the PFA, Ali Karimli, currently unlawfully  subjected to a de-facto house arrest.  "These reprehensible actions  constitute part of a systemic pattern of intimidation, harassment and  arrests of the opposition members incited by President Aliyev, who  repeatedly smeared them in his speeches as a "fifth column" and  "traitors". In violation of Azerbaijani legislation and the country's  international obligations, they are denied their fundamental rights,  such as contact with their lawyers and families. It is unacceptable  that President Aliyev is using the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent  spike in military tensions with Armenia as an excuse to wipe out what  remains of the political opposition in the country.  "Given the  gravity of the situation in Azerbaijan, we call on the Union's High  Representative for Foreign and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, to  launch, without delay, an initiative to impose EU-wide targeted human  rights sanctions on Azerbaijani officials responsible for the violent  repression of the political opposition and civil society in the  country."

It should be noted that the regular accusations of treason of the  opposition were voiced by the President of Azerbaijan during the  meeting of the government of the republic on July 15.

Ilham Aliyev began by welcoming thousands of participants in the  demonstration in Baku late in the evening on July 14, who were eager  to leave for Karabakh and Tovuz front and demanded the resignation of  the country's military leadership. However, then he attacked the  "populists" and "provocateurs". He noted that he instructed the  police to find and punish the hooligans. At the same time, the head  of state expressed confidence that this was the work of the "fifth  column" represented by the opposition People's Front of Azerbaijan  (PFA) and the National Council of Democratic Forces (NCDF). The  President of Azerbaijan in an extremely emotional form promised that  this time the most severe measures would be taken and an end to the  "anti-state activities" of these enemy elements would be put. The  reaction from the political opponents of the authorities was  immediate. The leadership of the Popular Front Party and the National  Council rejected the accusations of the head of state as "unfounded  and absurd." "Such a speech by the head of state cannot be called  anything other than a shame. It is a call for new repressions," the  PFA said in a statement. This was followed by the arrests of  representatives of the PFA.