Azerbaijani rights defender Emin Guseinov leaves the country

Emin Guseinov, the Azerbaijani rights defender and the director of the Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS), who was sheltered at the Swiss Embassy in Baku, has left the country, said his brother Mekhman Guseinov.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on August 8, 2014, power agents came to the office of the IRFS in Baku with a search warrant. Since August 11, 2014, the office remains sealed up.

On February 11 this year, the Norwegian Foundation "Human Rights House" said that Guseinov, while fleeing from repressions, since August 18, 2014, was forced to hide at the Swiss Embassy in Baku.

According to Mekhman Guseinov, his brother managed to leave the territory of Azerbaijan at night on June 13.

Emin Guseinov left Baku, accompanied by Didier Burkhalter, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland, the "Turan" News Agency reports referring to the newspaper "Zurder Zeitung". According to the newspaper, Burkhalter was in Baku "to participate in the opening ceremony of the first European Games."

Emin Guseinov was granted a visa until this September, after which he will decide whether to ask for political asylum in Switzerland or not. The liberation of Guseinov "was preceded by Burkhalter's personal negotiations with Azerbaijani President Aliev," the "Zurder Zeitung" wrote.

Earlier, Khikmet Gadjiev, the spokesman of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, confirmed that Guseinov was put on the wanted list and accused of illegal entrepreneurship, tax evasion and abuse of office.

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