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Amnesty International releases report on Azerbaijan

16 November 2011 13:46 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Shahriyar Alizadeh â€“ APA. Amnesty International released its report on Azerbaijan. According to APA, John Dalhuisen, Europe and Central Asia deputy program director of Amnesty International, said this year Azerbaijan marked 20th anniversary of its independence. â€œAzerbaijan has reached economic prosperity during these years. We welcome it. But we are concerned about some issues. The opposition attempted to hold peaceful actions in March-April. 17 people were convicted around the time of the protests. Free media and non-governmental organizations are working there, but they have to be careful because one mistake can cause their shutdownâ€.

The deputy program director said they tried to meet with the government officials. But couldnâ€™t. â€œThey told us that it was not suitable time for the meeting. But I hope we will meet soon because there are many issues to be discussed with the government. Azerbaijan will host the Eurovision song contest next year. The country will be in the focus of attention of the international community. On the eve of this event, we will work to inform the international community about the situation in Azerbaijanâ€.

Natalia Nozadze, Amnesty Internationalâ€™s Azerbaijan researcher, also said that the people detained during the unauthorized actions in March and April, were convicted. â€œThey should be released. We investigated all issues and concluded that they were arrested for their attempt to hold peaceful actinsâ€.