Your trusted source

Senior U.S. diplomats have expressed concern on the repressions of civil society activists, journalists and politicians in a number of OSCE countries, including Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijani news agency "Turan" reports.

Thus Ambassador Robert Bradtke, the head of the U.S. Mission to the OSCE, commenting on the results of a special session on the human dimensions, which were held last week in Warsaw, said that the "civil and political activists in Azerbaijan are subjected to increasing pressure, including demonstrative harassment, detention, legal restrictions on the activities of NGOs and even the closing of the public organization "University of free thought. '"

According to him, against this background, the government officials are always trying to justify the repressions of civil society activists referencing to national security, which is contradicting the concepts of the OSCE security. "These prosecutions are completely counterproductive and contribute to a greater instability in the far future," noted Bradtke.

He highlighted the case of the oppositionist leader of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA) Ali Kerimli. "The Azerbaijani authorities violate one of the fundamental provisions of the OSCE on freedom of movement of the citizens. A striking example of this is the continued deprivation of the right of the Popular Front party leader Ali Kerimli who has no passport and cannot travel abroad. Since 2006, the authorities refer to the criminal case filed against him since 1994, trying to justify their actions. At the same time, since 1994 Kerimli had already changed his passport, but that time the authorities did not remember about the criminal case," he said.