08/05/2015 Monitoring
The co-rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) for the monitoring of Azerbaijan, Pedro Agramunt (Spain, EPP/CD) and Tadeusz Iwinski (Poland, SOC) are deeply concerned by the sentencing of opposition leader, Deputy Head of the Musavat Party, Faraj Kerimli, to six and a half years of prison. Amnesty International considers Faraj Kerimli a prisoner of conscience.
This sentence needs to be seen in the context of the worrying intensification of arrests and detentions of opposition leaders, NGOs leaders, journalists and others who express critical opinions.
“We are worried by the alleged arbitrary application of criminal legislation to limit freedom of expression, and call on the authorities to develop an inclusive political system and an environment favourable to political pluralism,” the co-rapporteurs said.