mr president while we welcome the release from prison of adnan hajizade and emin milli the good news about azerbaijan ends about there
the european parliament is very concerned about the massive crackdown on freedom of expression and assembly carried out in azerbaijan following the peaceful protest against the government in march and april of this year
young people civil society activists media professionals and opposition politicians are being harassed and intimidated
some demonstrators have been sentenced in mass trials which took place late at night and while people did not have access to a lawyer
most of these lawyers in turn were not informed of the locations where the trials were being held
the human rights house of azerbaijan has been closed down by order of the ministry of justice
this climate of fear and intimidation and the breaches of human rights must end
the azerbaijani government is losing its credibility by breaching conventions it has itself signed up to such as the council of europe and the european convention on human rights
we want president aliyev to keep his word
europe also loses credibility if we do not act upon these breaches
they should have real consequences for the relations between the eu and azerbaijan
