YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 6, ARMENPRESS. Human Rights Watch has urged the European Union to press Aliyev to set free the arrested political activists, journalists, critics of the authorities, as well as stop oppressions against independent groups, allowing them to act freely.

“European Union officials should press President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan to free unjustly imprisoned political activists, journalists, and other government critics, Human Rights Watch said today. EU officials should also urge Aliyev to end the crackdown on independent groups and allow them to operate without undue government interference.

President Aliyev will be in Brussels on February 6, 2017, to inaugurate talks on a new partnership agreement between Azerbaijan and the EU to enhance political and economic ties between them. He is set to meet European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Council Donald Tusk, and other top EU officials”, “Armenpress reports the human rights organization said, adding that this opportunity should be used to secure concrete commitments for urgently needed rights reforms in Azerbaijan.

Human Rights Watch reminds that in 2016 Azerbaijan released 16 politically motivated prisoners thank to pressures by the EU and other organizations. “But in 2016 and 2017, the authorities have made dozens of new arrests of other activists and bloggers on spurious criminal, often drug-related, charges to prevent them from carrying out their legitimate work”, Human Rights Watch added.

“More than a dozen activists convicted in politically motivated trials between 2013 and 2015 remain in prison. Among them is Ilgar Mammadov, leader of the pro-democracy opposition movement Republican Alternative (REAL). The Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers has repeatedly called for his release, in line with a 2014 European Court of Human Rights decision finding that Mammadov’s imprisonment was in retaliation for his criticism of the government.

None of the convictions of those released in 2016 were quashed and some face travel restrictions, including the award-winning investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova, and the human rights lawyer Intigam Aliyev. Others have fled the country fearing further politically motivated prosecutions”, the organization says, adding that any negotiation with Azerbaijan should include clearly expressed EU expectations for concrete human rights improvements by Azerbaijan’s government, including the immediate and unconditional release of rights activists, political opposition members, and journalists.