Rights defenders count 122 political prisoners in Azerbaijan

The human rights Union "For Freedom of Political Prisoners of Azerbaijan" (UFFPPA) has listed a total of 122 persons – those who had been subjected to politically motivated criminal prosecution.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on June 4, 2021, the UFFPPA published a list of political prisoners, which then included 121 names.

On September 1, 2021, the UFFPPA released an updated list of political prisoners, now including 122 people. The compilers of the list, as before, proceeded from the criteria for the notion of "a political prisoner" established by the PACE (Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe), says the UFFPPA's document.

According to the document, three people dropped out of the list of political prisoners over the summer, and four were added. "Unfortunately, the count of political prisoners in Azerbaijan is not decreasing. Authorities continue the practice of politically motivated arrests of their critics," Elshan Gasanov, one of the co-authors of the list, the head of the Centre for Monitoring Political Prisoners, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on September 1, 2021 at 07:47 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.