Azerbaijan: foreign doctors re-examine Leyla Yunus

A group of foreign doctors has conducted a repeated examination of arrested rights defender Leyla Yunus in Azerbaijan, the Penitentiary Service reports.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Leyla Yunus, Director of the Institute of Peace and Democracy (IPD), and her husband Arif Yunus are accused of economic crimes and high treason. Leyla's health status is of great concern among her advocates and friends.

The examination of Leyla Yunus by an international team of doctors was conducted based on the principles of humanism and in order to put an end to rumours about her poor feeling, said the PR division of the Penitentiary Service.

It recalls that a full examination of Leyla Yunus with the participation of Professor Christian Witt, the department head of the famous German hospital "Charite", took place in the Republican Diagnostic Centre on December 29, 2014.

According to Alaif Gasanov, an advocate of Leyla Yunus, last time he saw his client a week ago: "Leyla Yunus continues losing weight and is very weak, which is a consequence of her diabetes... She refused to be examined by local doctors, because she doesn't trust them," said the lawyer.

According to his story, the rights defender also complains about absence of investigatory actions in her relation.

It should be noted her that, according to the Code of Criminal Procedure, the maximum period of pre-trial arrest in Azerbaijan makes 19 months.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.