When this EUFAJ issue has been ready, there was just another sentence before the courts in Baku/Azerbaijan, against the human rights activists Dr Leyla Yunus and her husband, Arif Yunus.
What the President of the European Parliament said to this case on 15.8.2015 reads: "It is with utter dismay and regret that I have heard about the verdict handed down by the Baku Court to Dr Leyla Yunus and Mr Arif Yunus. The legal process leading to the verdict which imposes heavy prison sentences on two leadingvoices in the defence of human rights is utterly unfair, as testified by international monitors, and moreover completely disregards the health conditions of those sentenced."
And as a Spokesperson from the Council of Europe has declared on 13.8.2015, CoE Secretary General Jagland will request from the Azerbaijani authorities the full details of the judgment and the evidence presented against the defendants. In view of the known systemic deficiencies in the Azerbaijani judicial system and the worrying trend of increasing cases against human rights defenders and journalists, which in turn has a chilling effect on freedom of expression in the country, he is of the opinion that the conviction should eventually be examined by the European Court of Human Rights.
This is exactly what every human rights-interested lawyer in the whole world expects, too. The outcome is clear from the beginning, as the trial against the Yunus couple has developed. We wish the Yunus family - and all other accused persons - all the best before unpredictable Azerbaijani courts and before predictable European courts, despite the almost weekly assurances from government representatives, that there is full press freedom in Azerbaijan - which is clearly not, that the country is not legally accused, and this in a chorus of bought parliament members of other countries. The "Caviar Connection" says hello. Azerbaijan is today Europe's worst political system, I am very sorry to have to say this. It does not fit at all into the Council of Europe; where there is administrative activity, the administrative heads have always to reconfirm themselves with the next level. Only the hope that after the present president Ilham Aliyev a more decent government will come to power keeps Azerbaijan in the Council of Europe.
Hans-Jürgen ZAHORKA
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