Rights defenders state pressure on opposition because of Azeri referendum

Azerbaijan is witnessing suppression of civil society and opposition, directly connected with the referendum on amending the Constitution, said the International Foundation "Human Rights House", calling on the authorities to "stop intimidating the opposition."

Natiq Jafarli, Elshan Gasymov, Togrul Ismail and Elgiz Gakhramanly were arrested on the eve of the nationwide referendum on amendments to the Constitution, the "Human Rights House" has noted.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on August 12, Natiq Jafarli, the executive secretary and co-founder of the movement "ReAl", was detained and arrested for four months. On the same day, on August 12, member of ‘Nida’ movement Elgiz Gakhramanly was detained. In the evening of August 15, Elshan Gasymov, and Togrul Ismail, two activists of the movement "ReAl", were detained in Baku, and the court found both activists guilty of disobeying the police and arrested them for 7 days.

"Everyone should be able to freely and safely express his/her opinion at the referendum. Instead, we now see a new wave of repressions against civil society and opposition, directly related with the referendum," the website of the "Human Rights House" quoted on August 16 Ane Tusvik Bond, the Foundation's Regional Manager for Eastern Europe and the Caucasus.

The Foundation "Human Rights House" has called on the Azerbaijani authorities to "stop intimidating the opposition and dissidents during the referendum." "Besides, we call on the Council of Europe to demand from Azerbaijan to observe the taken commitments and guarantee people's right to participate in public life during the referendum, including the right to the freedoms of expression and assembly," says the statement.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.