Epress.am News from Armenia
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) President Anne Brasseur (pictured), during a press conference in Baku today, said she handed over a list of political prisoners presented to her by local human rights activists to the Azerbaijan authorities, reports Baku-based news provider Contact.az [RU].
"We have submitted to President Ilham Aliyev, as well as Speaker of the National Assembly Ogtay Asadov a list of people that we'd like to be released," she said.
She also expressed satisfaction that human rights defenders managed to agree on a single list.
Brasseur said a few weeks ago she called on the authorities of Azerbaijan to give her the opportunity to meet with Ilgar Mammadov, the imprisoned Director of the Council of Europe School of Political Studies in Baku. She said she has not yet received permission. Brasseur added, however, if Mammadov is not released, she will come to Azerbaijan once again.
Finally, according to the PACE official website, the PACE President said she hoped that yesterday’s judgement handed down by the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Ilgar Mammadov, which found that his arrest and extended detention pending trial was in violation of the Convention, will lead to him now being freed from detention.