It has been a difficult summer in Azerbaijan.The unprecedented crackdown, intimidation and arrests of journalists, activists and human rights defenders, stalling activities of many of the country’s independent NGOs created a sense of fear off scale.
But some there were some good news also. Thanks to endless efforts by friends in Europe, some of the country’s most well known political prisoners were (and are) nominated or received awards. Among these:
1. Anar Mammadli won the Havel Prize 2014 awarded by the Council of Europe;
2. Leyla Yunus is among the three finalists for the Sakharov Prize 2014;
3. Rasul Jafarov is nominated for the Dutch Tulip Prize
You can still vote for Rasul
here
.
Here
you may find a detailed account of the summer of crackdown prepared by the Berlin-based think tank, European Stability Initiative.
