On December 9, the Baku Appeal Court changed imprisonment term into probation sentence for the head of Peace and Democracy Institute Leyla Yunus, 59 and she was released from the courtroom. The decision of the court relied on the solicitation of the Yunus’ lawyers to release her because of serious health conditions. Nevertheless the court did not annul the charges brought against the human rights defender.

Short time ago Leyla’s husband, scientist and historian Arif Yunus was also released from prison under house arrest for the same reason – deteriorating health conditions. During the hearings at the Appeal Court Arif Yunus could not sit on the chair and needed permanent care of doctors.

Having left the court Arif Yunus said Leyla’s health conditions were much graver than his. “She is almost at the edge of life.”

Before the release Leyla was speaking about physical abuse in the prison and named concrete dates. She said she was suffering from insomnia, pains in the belly and had problems of digestive system. Her lawyers said Leyla had Hepatitis C and her liver was almost completely paralyzed.

Leyla Yunus was arrested on July 30, 2014 in her house; soon was arrested her husband too. The court started hearings into their case almost one year later, on July 15, 2015. Large scale fraud, fake manufacturing, large scale tax invasion and use of fake documents – under these charges the Baku Grave Court sent Leyla to prison for 8,5 years and Arif Yunus for 7 years.

The Peace and Democracy Institute was founded in 1995. Leyla Yunus often criticized the Government of Azerbaijan and fought for the rights of political prisoners in Azerbaijan together with Rasul Jafarov and Intigam Alyev. Leyla Yunus actively cooperated with the EU Commissionaire, Council of Europe and Rapporteurs of the PACE.

Her human rights activities, detention of other HRDs and weak evidence against her reinforces doubts that her arrest was politically motivated.

Political motives are detected in the arrest of investigative journalist and contributor to the Radio Liberty/Free Europe Khadija Ismaylova. There are 15 volumes in her case, which include several charges. On September 1, Judge Ramen Alakhvediev at the Baku Grave Court sentenced her to 7,5 year imprisonment for fake manufacturing, tax invasion and abuse of power.

Khadija Ismaylova’s lawyers appealed to the Appeal Court but in vain- the Appeal Court upheld the decision of the first instance court.

Mass arrests in Azerbaijan fall under particular interest of international organizations and media. In September, the European Parliament passed resolution about Ismaylova’s case of Ismaylova. The Parliament evaluated the human rights state in Azerbaijan as “unprecedented repressions against the civil society” and called on the Government of Azerbaijan to unconditionally and immediately release the prisoners.

European Parliament called on the EU to suspend negotiations on strategic cooperation with Azerbaijan until the government takes concrete steps towards the respect of human rights.

The resolution stresses out necessity of imposing travel bans and various sanctions on the Azerbaijani government officials and those judges, who discuss politically motivated cases.

The EP called on the EU structures to start probe into the accusations about corruptive activities of Alyev and his family members voiced by Khadija Ismaylova in her articles.

Most probably Khadija Ismaylova was arrested because of her investigative articles published about illegal business activities of Ilham Alyev and his family members. International organization Human Rights Watch wrote about it in its 2015 report.

“Authorities repeatedly interrogated Khadija Ismayilova, an outspoken investigative journalist reporting on government corruption, including the businesses of the ruling family, as a witness to an investigation into leaking state secrets. In October, authorities imposed a foreign travel ban on Ismayilova without providing any legal grounds for it. Pro-government media continued the public smear campaign against her that they had begun in 2012,” the Report reads.

High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogerini and EU Commissionaire Johannes Hahn connect Khadija’s arrest with her investigative activities.

On November 11 Human Rights Watch honored Khadija Ismaylova for outstanding courage in journalism. The Organization usually honors persons with the award who dedicates his/her life to the defense of human rights. The Organization believes Ismaylova put her life under risk when investigating the corruptive business activities of the president and government of Azerbaijan.

European Court of Human Rights is waiting for the response of the Government of Azerbaijan with regard to the journalist’s case; deadline for the response is January 15, 2016. The lawyers sent application to the ECtHR on September 8.

For the past few years the international community issues only statements about deteriorating human rights state in Azerbaijan and does not take real steps to address the problem. It is natural that statements cannot improve the situation. It is necessary to take stricter measures against the Azerbaijan authority to improve the human rights state in the country and set political prisoners free. Furthermore, international organizations report about dozens of political prisoners in Azerbaijan. In accordance to the Human Rights House Foundation’s 2015 report, the Government of Azerbaijan had arrested 33 human rights defenders, among them 10 journalists and bloggers, under almost identical politically motivated charges.

Ketevan Ghvedashvili