TThe rapporterus of the Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe (PACE) Pedro Agramunt and Joseph Grech called on the Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev to release 17 political prisoners arrested in connection with the protests this spring. They signed an appeal to Aliyev after the meeting of the Monitoring Committee in Paris on December 15.
"We know that 17 people were arrested for political reasons, following demonstrations in the spring, and we ask the President of Azerbaijan to release them by the end of the year," Agramunt told BBC. However, the Spanish senator declined to answer the question "What will the Council of Europe do, if the Azerbaijani authorities refuse to release the political prisoners?" He only hoped that the results of the appeal to the president "would be good."
Discussions on Azerbaijan at the meeting of the Monitoring Committee in Paris revolved around a report submitted by Amnesty International. It stated that the Azerbaijani government suppressed the protesting actions by force, inspired by the "Arab spring" in March this year. The participants were subjected to criminal prosecution. According to Agramunt, some protesters agreed with criticism by Amnesty International, while others defended the Azerbaijani authorities. Agramunt himself agreed with the Amnesty International’s statement that 17 people convicted in Azerbaijan were prisoners of conscience and demanded their release. At the same time, Agramunt did not criticize the Azerbaijani authorities, saying that similar problems also existed in other countries of Eastern Europe. Note that the Amnesty international also accused the PACE rapporteurs of turning a blind eye on the human rights violations in Azerbaijan (Turan).