15:54, 11 February 2016

Court would not let Yunus spouses to leave Azerbaijan

Leyla and Arif Yunus spouses. Photo by Aziz Karimov for the "Caucasian Knot"

A Baku court has refused to provide a permit to Leyla and Arif Yunus to leave the country for medical treatment abroad.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on December 7, 2015, the Yunus' defence asked the court to acquit the spouses or appoint a punishment not connected with deprivation of freedom, stating that they would not survive imprisonment. On December 9, 2015, the Baku Court of Appeal replaced their real prison terms for conditional sentences.

Leyla Yunus, Director of the Institute for Peace and Democracy (IPD) and her husband Arif Yunus were accused of economic crimes and treason. On August 13, 2015, Leyla Yunus was sentenced to 8.5 years of imprisonment, and Arif Yunus – to 7 years in prison.

The Yunus spouses "need high-quality treatment, possible only in the leading foreign clinics," said their advocate Elchin Sadygov. According to his story, the couple "has serious health problems."

"Leila Yunus has chronic hepatitis the C, hypertension and diabetes mellitus. She needs a number of complex surgeries. Arif Yunus suffers from a life-threatening third-degree arterial hypertension," said Sadygov.

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

Author: Faik Medzhid

Source: CK correspondent