Federal Lezghi
National and Cultural Autonomy

Chairman of PACE Monitoring Committee: There are political prisoners in Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan should fulfill commitments on democracy and human rights, said the chairman of the Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the former speaker of that structure on Azerbaijan’s issues Andres Herkel, commenting on the signing of the Agreement on visa facilitation between Azerbaijan and the EU, writes the Azerbaijani news portal "Haqqin.az."
"There are still political prisoners in the country, and the last report of the ODIHR has revealed large irregularities in the elections," he said.
According to him, Baku should display its will in regard of these issues as well. EU and other European institutions should also remind Baku about their values, Herkel beleives.
"If Azerbaijan wants further development of relations with Europe, then it must respect them. These relations should be based not only on mutual interests, but also on respect for these values," he said.
Earlier, the "Reuters” news agency reported that there are 142 political prisoners in Azerbaijan at the moment; among them there are journalists, religious leaders and human rights activists. It was noted that there were 60 political prisoners in Azerbaijan in January.

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