22/04/2024 Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Hannah Bardell (United Kingdom, NR), PACE rapporteur on “Threats to life and safety of journalists and human rights defenders in Azerbaijan”, has welcomed the decision to release Gubad Ibadoghlu, an Azerbaijani academic, politician, and an anti-corruption campaigner, from prison and place him under house arrest.
“Mr Ibadoghlu was arrested on 23 July 2023 and charged with the 'production, acquisition or sale of counterfeit money by an organised group'. In a statement, PACE’s General Rapporteur on Political Prisoners, Sunna Ævarsdóttir (Iceland, SOC), expressed her concern that the charges against him were politically motivated and called for his immediate release. His medical condition was also of great concern.
Today, I welcome the decision to release Mr Ibadoghlu from detention and place him under house arrest, on medical grounds. I call on the Azerbaijani authorities to promptly review all charges against him, in compliance with the European Convention on Human Rights, and to drop the politically motivated ones. I also hope for the release of all other journalists, human rights defenders and activists detained on political grounds in Azerbaijan.
I consider Mr Ibadoghlu’s release as an encouraging sign in the right direction.”