Mehriban Aliyeva (the first lady of Azerbaijan) recently was in Paris, where she opened a photo exhibition titled “
Azerbaijan,
Land of Tolerance.”
An inquiring reporter asked if Azerbaijan is really such a place, noting that its jails are full of political prisoners.
“How can you say that?” Ms. Aliyeva responded tartly. “It’s not true.” She urged the reporter to “get correct information.”
The reporter then asked her to comment on the imprisonment of human rights advocate Leyla Yunus and journalist Khadija Ismayilova.
No answer; the first lady turned her back while security guards pushed the journalist away.
If she wants “correct information,” perhaps Ms. Aliyeva and her husband, President Ilham Aliyev, should read the resolution on Azerbaijan approved Sept. 10 by the European Parliament.
It declares that the human rights situation in Azerbaijan has “deteriorated continuously over the last few years,” with “growing intimidation and repression” of rights defenders, journalists & others in civil society.
“Peaceful protesters have been effectively banned from demonstrating in central Baku since 2006,” the resolution states, & journalists are subject to “
continuous intimidation & harassment,” among them Emin Milli, founder of the online broadcast news outlet Meydan TV, who has received death threats..
Emin Milli is a writer & dissident from Azerbaijan, Milli was imprisoned in 2009 for 2½ years for his critical views about the government. He was released in November 2010, after serving 16 months of his sentence, in part due to strong international pressure on the government of Azerbaijan.
From 2002-2004, Milli was director of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation & also advised the Council of Europe on more than 40 cases of political prisoners in Azerbaijan..
