BAKU - Azerbaijan’s Milli Majlis rejected a European Parliament resolution on the human rights situation in Azerbaijan adopted Oct. 8, calling it a politically biased action. Lawmakers in Baku said the document could complicate the peace process with Armenia and efforts to restore interparliamentary contacts.
The Azerbaijani parliament issued its official response on the day of the vote in Strasbourg.
The European Parliament resolution addresses the cases of Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan Chairman Ali Karimli, Election Monitoring and Democracy Studies Center head Anar Mammadli, journalist Anar Abdullayev and other individuals whom European lawmakers describe as political prisoners.
The measure passed by 492 votes to 23, with 60 abstentions. The European Parliament demanded the immediate release of the individuals named in the document, called for targeted measures under the European Union’s global human rights sanctions regime and urged that any future partnership agreement with Baku be tied to concrete improvements in this area.
Azerbaijani Parliament Responds
The Milli Majlis rejected the allegations as based on false information and described the calls for sanctions as an attempt at political pressure. Its statement said the European Parliament should not define the powers of Azerbaijan’s state institutions or issue instructions to the country’s law enforcement and judicial bodies.
The parliament also said demands for the unconditional release of convicted or accused individuals amounted to interference in judicial proceedings. The Azerbaijani side argued that public status does not provide immunity from criminal prosecution.
Baku separately linked the resolution to the regional agenda. The Milli Majlis said one-sided initiatives during efforts to advance peace dialogue between Azerbaijan and Armenia make it harder to build trust and create additional obstacles to normalization.
The parliament called on the European Parliament to abandon confrontational rhetoric and refrain from interfering in Azerbaijan’s internal affairs. European lawmakers, meanwhile, say their demands are aimed at protecting human rights, independent media and civil society.
Source: Vesti Baku.