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PACE Azerbaijan monitor urges medical treatment for Anar Mammadli and Gubad Ibadoghlu

The co-rapporteur of the PACE Monitoring Committee for Azerbaijan, Lise Christoffersen (Norway, SOC), has made the following statement on the worsening health situation of civil society activists Anar Mammadli and Gubad Ibadoghlu:

“I am deeply concerned about the health situation of human rights defender Anar Mammadli, who has remained in detention on remand since 30 April 2024. Mr Mammadli is the head the Election Monitoring and Democracy Studies Centre, the only independent election monitoring body in Azerbaijan, and the winner of the Assembly’s 2014 Václav Havel Human Rights Prize. He also co-founded the Climate Justice Initiative, a coalition of independent NGOs that aimed at joining forces in view of the COP29, now taking place in Baku.

In a statement on 30 April, I already expressed deep concern over his detention, which is believed to be in connection with his valuable human rights work, and I called on the authorities to review his case without delay. Since then, his detention has been extended and he risks up to eight years of prison sentence, if convicted.

Mr Mammadli’s health has seriously deteriorated since he was placed in detention and he now urgently needs a proper medical examination, which he has so far been refused. If his health concerns remain unaddressed, they may have irreparable effects on his physical and mental health. Therefore, I call on the authorities to ensure an immediate and quality medical check-up for Mr Mammadli and to subsequently provide him with the appropriate treatment.

Moreover, I am also deeply concerned about the health condition of Dr Gubad Ibadoghlu, a well-known academic and anti-corruption expert, who was released from detention on remand last April, after nine months. He now remains under house arrest, is banned from travelling, and could face up to 17 years of prison sentence in case of conviction. He was recently nominated for the European Parliament’s 2024 Sakharov Prize.

Dr Ibadoghlu has been suffering from a serious cardiological disease, which worsened during his detention on remand, and which now needs urgent heart surgery which can only be carried out by foreign doctors. Therefore, I call on the authorities to allow Dr Ibadoghlu to travel abroad in order to receive appropriate medical treatment or to allow foreign medical doctors to enter the country in order to provide him with such treatment.

I again urge the authorities to drop all trumped-up charges against Messrs Mammadli and Ibadoghlu, as well as other human rights defenders, journalists, academics, civil society and political activists who remain in detention on remand in retaliation for their work, and to release them without delay.”