The Baku Court of Appeals (BAS)
continued
proceedings in the case of human rights activist Leila Yunus and her husband, expert in conflictology, Arif Yunus on May 17.
The consideration of the appeal of the spouses by the Supreme Court of Azerbaijan has been repeatedly postponed. Finally, on December 27, the Supreme Court of Azerbaijan returned the case for reconsideration to the BAS.
At yesterday’s court session, lawyer Elchin Sadiqov said that the couple are on long-term treatment abroad. He asked that questioning of the couple be held through Skype or Facebook.
However, the court rejected the petition and has demanded the couple return before the next session on May 31.
Should they fail to return, they will be declared wanted by the law.
Leyla and Arif Yunus were arrested in the summer of 2014 in a criminal case against local and foreign NGOs. In August 2015, they were convicted of financial crimes and sentenced to long terms of imprisonment.
After protests by international organizations in December 2015, the real terms of imprisonment were replaced by conditional sentences, and they released. In April 2016, the couple left for treatment abroad.
