AZE.US
Ilgar Mammadov, co-founder of Azerbaijan’s REAL party, has sharply criticized Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe President Petra Bayr, accusing the organization of abandoning its principles and humiliating itself in its dealings with Baku.
Mammadov was responding to Bayr’s interview with Radio Liberty’s Azerbaijani service, in which she said Azerbaijan should release at least several well-known political prisoners and remove some PACE members from its travel blacklist before relations with the Assembly can improve.
“The PACE president’s interview with Radio Liberty is simply a disgrace,” Mammadov wrote on social media.
He recalled that when Azerbaijan joined the Council of Europe, it committed to resolving the issue of political prisoners without delay.
“Now, 25 years later, the PACE president is practically begging Baku to release at least a few of the known political prisoners,” he said.
Mammadov argued that the European institution had dramatically weakened its position.
“They used to say, ‘Even one political prisoner is too many for a Council of Europe member state.’ Now they are pleading, ‘For God’s sake, just release some of them,’” he wrote.
The REAL co-founder went on to accuse the Strasbourg-based institution of reducing an organization founded on human rights and democratic values to the role of a petitioner.
“Stationery shops in Strasbourg sell everything, even ashes. They should buy some and sprinkle them on such empty heads,” Mammadov wrote. “They have reduced an organization built on the highest values to begging for basic human rights and freedoms.”
In her interview, Bayr said she currently saw no signal from the Azerbaijani government that it was prepared to change its policies or meet PACE’s conditions.
She said any return of Azerbaijan’s delegation should be a gradual process and would require concrete steps from Baku, including the release of several prisoners considered political by European institutions and the removal of at least some PACE members from Azerbaijan’s entry blacklist.
Bayr also acknowledged that tougher measures against Azerbaijan, including additional procedures or sanctions, were unlikely to produce meaningful results.
AZE.US