The week of 26-30 June saw the continuation of the Armenian citizens trial, demands of further investigation into torture cases in Azerbaijan and a statement by the Human Rights House Foundation.
The trial of the Armenian citizens continues
The trial of the Armenian citizens in Azerbaijan, which has begun last week, continues at the Baku Court of Grave Crimes. On Tuesday, 14 Armenian citizens who have been detained in the Hadrut forest on Azerbaijani territory were on trial.
According to the testimonials of the 14 defendants, they were in Hadrut forest area in order to reach to Armenian military checkpoint. On their way, after walking past a Russian peace keepers checkpoint without any problems, they encountered Azerbaijanis who told them that in return for handing over their weapons they would be returned to Russian peace keepers. But the Armenians ended up in prison in Azerbaijan.
The next court hearing will be on July 2. If convicted, they could face 20 years or even life in prison. The number of Armenian citizens on trial in the country is now at 40, the Armenian citizen are tried in 4 different groups.
PACE demands further investigation of torture cases
On the Day of International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, 24 members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE)
demanded
further investigation of torture cases in Azerbaijan.
A group of 24 PACE deputies are going to appoint a rapporteur for investigating the use of torture in Azerbaijan, including the so called `Tartar Case`.
Human Rights House Foundation: Azerbaijan pressuring lawyers
The Human Rights House Foundation
stated
, that "in a number of countries, the justice system has been shaken, including threats or attacks on human rights defenders."
The statement further claimed that Azerbaijan used the pandemic to increase pressure on lawyers and human rights defenders, and used quarantine as an excuse for non-compliance with the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights. In addition, human rights lawyers continue to be persecuted and deprived of the right to practice law. Javad Javadov, a lawyer and human rights activist, was reprimanded by the Azerbaijan Bar Association for expressing legal concerns about the alleged harsh treatment of a client in 2020.
A group of war veterans rally in front of Azerbaijani Defense Ministry
On 29 June, a group of last years'
war veterans
staged a rally in front of the Ministry of Defense to raise awareness regarding disability-related medical problems.
The protesters said that although they took part in the advances of Fizuli, Jabrayil and Khojavend, their names are not in the decree
Coronavirus update from Azerbaijan
On 27 June, 40 people were infected with COVID-19 in Azerbaijan, while 58 people were treated and recovered.
The statement came from the Operational Headquarters under the Cabinet of Ministers. It was reported that one patient had died.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Operations Headquarters has counted 335,836 people infected with coronavirus in Azerbaijan.
"330,084 of them were treated and 4,968 died. At present, the number of active patients is 784," they reported.
