British Parliamentarians Expressed Concerns Over Situation With Human Rights In Azerbaijan

LONDON. July 15, 2009: Thirteen members of the House of Commons signed an appeal to Azeri government expressing deep concern over the rapidly deteriorating human rights situation in Azerbaijan.

The activist of Azeri Diaspora in London Murad Hasanli told Turan, the appeal was adopted after the meeting of the members of the House of Commons with Azerbaijani youths living in Great Britain.

On July 14, the document was submitted officially to the House of Commons, and on July 15 the petition was signed by 13 British parliamentarians. In accordance with the procedure, the appeal will be sent to the Foreign Ministry of Great Britain and then will be passed to official Baku.

The petition condemns the imprisonment of youth activists, Adnan Hajizadeh and Emin Milli in Azerbaijan on 10 July 2009 and calls on the government to immediately release them from prison and stop the persecution of independent media and opposition activists. The MPs demand restoration of the broadcasting of the BBC Radio on FM frequencies, which was shut down by the Aliyev government earlier this year. The British members of the parliament also expressed hope that the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs will robustly defend the human rights during Azeri president Ilham Aliyev's current visit to the UK.

Murad Hasanli said during the visit of Ilham Aliyev to London a number of British and international media (BBC, Al Jazeera, Guardian, etc.) appealed to him requesting an interview, but all the requests were rejected. Only “trusted” journalists were admitted to the meeting in the Chatham House Institute, Hasanli said (Turan).

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