Azerbaijani human rights defenders to address participants of "Eurovision-2012"

In Azerbaijan, participants of the campaign "Sing for Democracy", held to draw attention to the problems of human rights in the country on the eve of the "Eurovision-2012" contest, decided to appeal to the performers who will participate in the contest.

The upcoming address to the performers will ask them to urge the Azerbaijani authorities to release on the eve of the "Eurovision 2012" contest, "prisoners of conscience" and political prisoners and to respect the property rights of citizens.

"The number of political prisoners in Azerbaijan reached 60, including 16 persons, who were convicted in connection with last year's spring protests and who were declared by the Amnesty International (AI) as 'prisoners of conscience'. Property rights of about 60,000 citizens were violated: the people were forced to evict from their apartments and houses that were demolished under the pretext of provision of urban amenities. And the citizens did not received adequate compensation for their property," said Leila Yunus, the initiator of the campaign "Sing for Democracy", Director of the Institute for Peace and Democracy (IPD), at a round table held on February 22 at the office of the Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS).

She has reported that each participant of the song contest will receive the text of solidarity with the civil society of Azerbaijan, which they should sign and send to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev and to the organizing committee of the campaign "Sing for Democracy".

Emin Guseinov, Director of the IRFS, drew attention to the fact that after it had been decided to hold the "Eurovision-2012" contest, "the situation with the freedom of press and expression in the country started dramatically deteriorating."

The participants of the campaign "Sing for Democracy" are confident that "the joint efforts of the Azerbaijani democrats and the international community will succeed."