Gyulalyev: authorities intensify repressions before presidential election in Azerbaijan

On the eve of the presidential election upcoming this October, the authorities of Azerbaijan step up repressions against political and civil activists. Since the beginning of 2013, about 40 persons have been arrested for participating in protests, political and human rights activities arrested, Oktay Gyulalyev, the coordinator of the social alliance "Azerbaijan without Political Prisoners", said at a press conference on May 3 in Baku.

According to his story, "all those arrested can be considered political prisoners, because the charges against them were fabricated, while the inquiry is carried out with gross violations of the due procedure."

The relatives of political prisoners who took part in the conference told about violation of their rights during the investigation and about unjustified charges against the inmates. They expressed regret that "even such organizations like the Council of Europe, fail to address the problem of political prisoners."

"The names of our children were put into the report on political prisoners in Azerbaijan prepared by the PACE Rapporteur Christoph Strasser. However, this January, the PACE session refused to accept the report. If the Council of Europe acts in this way, then, what should we expect from others?" Said Dadashbeyli's mother has asked.

The mother of Zaur Gurbanly, an arrested "Nida" activist, has indicated at the groundlessness of charges against all the activists arrested in the case. She said that she is proud of her son and after his arrest she herself joined the "Nida" movement.