A group of Azerbaijani political refugees in Europe today staged a protest at the Palace of Europe in Strasbourg, during the speech of President Ilham Aliyev before the MPs.
Penetrating into the room, they settled in the forefront and shut their mouths with black cloth. In this case the protesters wore T-shirts with the photo image of political prisoners in Azerbaijan. In connection with this the performance was suspended for a while. Later Aliyev continued his speech.
Unpleasant questions from MEPs angered Ilham Aliyev
Concluding his speech before members of PACE, the head of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev for half an hour answered questions, most of which were unpleasant for him.
Thus, MEPs asked about dozens of political prisoners, the arrest of activists and violation of freedom of assembly, of the arrest of a dozen journalists and violations of freedom of speech. On this Aliyev said that Azerbaijan has no journalists arrested for their professional activities. “We have since 2003 no journalists arrested for defamation, you have incorrect information,” claimed Aliyev.
The question of fraud in the last presidential election generally angered Aliyev. Threatening the British MP who asked this question with a finger, Aliyev accused him of lying. “In your question you lied twice. First, all the observers confirmed that the elections were free and fair. Most importantly, the elections reflected the will of the people, while there are violations and falsifications in your own country,” said Aliyev, turning red.
On the question of the cause of persecution of the known human rights activist Leyla Yunus, Aliyev said that “she wanted to run away when she was requested relevant information, and then an appropriate action was applied against her,” he said.
Asked about the suppression of civil society and political opponents, Aliyev said that those asking these questions do not know history. This was the situation in Azerbaijan in 1992-93. After that there was a period of stability, which is still ongoing. “These young people sitting at the top do not remember this,” he said, pointing to a group of political refugees protesting against Aliyev’s speech.
It is noteworthy that Aliyev was able to fend off the questions from MEPs with ease. He was right, noting that the deputies not know the history of the issue. Their questions were general in nature, not evidence-based, allowing Aliyev to juggle counterarguments in his favor.
