CoE chief concerned over ‘worrying trends’ in Azerbaijan
Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland has expressed deep concern at what he called "worrying trends" in Azerbaijan, according to the CoE website.
Jagland’s statement follows the sentences handed down on Monday to four opposition activists - Arif Hajily, Mahammad Majidli, Tural Abbasly and Fuad Gahramanly – on charges of conspiracy to violate public order for organizing anti-government protests on April 2 in Baku.
"These sentences are set against a backdrop of a worrying increase in cases being brought against individuals seeking to exercise their basic rights, rights which the Azerbaijan authorities are obliged to respect in a member state of the Council of Europe," Jagland said.
"Such worrying trends must be placed alongside the increasingly difficult environment in which legal professionals are constrained to work. I would encourage the authorities to ensure that lawyers, and particularly those acting in defense of opposition figures, are allowed to practice their profession without prejudice, and without consequence to their status, in full respect of the rule of law."
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