Azerbaijan is again in the center of the powerful international criticism. The reason this time is the end of the trial and the verdict of the human rights defender couple Leyla and Arif Yunus. The court of Baku condemned Leyla Yunus for 8.5 years of imprisonment and Arif Yunus for 7 years of imprisonment.
According to the evaluation of the specialists the case was opened on obvious fictive accusation, financial machinations, avoiding taxes, faking documents etc.. Whilst the true reason of persecution was purely political and was connected with the professional activity of human rights defenders. The US Department of State expressed its deep concern on the subject.
The Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjørn Jagland demanded full information from the Azerbaijan government on the trial and the proofs against the accused. Jagland also mentioned that the verdict can be discussed in the European Court of Human Rights.
