14:35, 19 April 2016

Leyla and Arif Yunus left Azerbaijan

Leyla and Arif Yunus after the release. December 9, 2015. Photo by Aziz Karimov for the "Caucasian Knot"

The Azerbaijani authorities have let the seriously sick rights defender Leyla Yunus and her husband Arif Yunus, who are serving their conditional sentences, out of the country.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on February 11, a court in Baku refused to provide a permit to the Yunus couple to leave the country for medical treatment abroad. On March 11, the Court of Appeal upheld the ban.

According to Elchin Sadygov, the Yunus spouses' advocate, his clients left Baku in the morning on April 19 and are already in the Netherlands.

Earlier, the defence stated that keeping Leyla Yunus, who has a progressing liver disease, in custody, may pose a threat to her life.

The arrival of the couple was confirmed by Bert Koenders, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. According to his story, the Yunus spouses deserve an "unconditional" support of the international community.

The Netherlands, like the EU and other countries, made efforts to release the Yunus spouses after their arrest in summer of 2014.

Mr Koenders hopes that this step of the authorities indicates an improvement of the human rights situation in Azerbaijan.

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

Author: Faik Medzhid

Source: CK correspondent