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Preparation of a report on political prisoners in Azerbaijan is committed to PACE Deputy Pedro Agramunt (Spain), who is already the rapporteur of the Monitoring Committee of the Assembly of this country. According to the Azerbaijani news agency "Turan", Agramunt’s appointment angered human rights activists in Azerbaijan due to the fact that he is known for his loyalty to Baku.

As the human rights activist Rasul Jafarov reported though Agramunt is known for its conformist views towards the human rights issues, the fact of accepting this decision means recognizing that there is a problem connected with the political prisoners’ issues.

In any case Agramunt will have to prepare a report, discuss the issue with the authorities of Azerbaijan and take steps to release political prisoners, which is inevitable, he said.

In its turn, Arzu Abdullayeva, the co-chairman of the Helsinki Citizens 'Assembly, told Turan that they need a co-rapporteur on political prisoners.

"This man cannot cope with the responsibilities of the Rapporteur on common issues, how he will do any other work?" said Abdullayeva. However she positively assessed the very fact of appointment of the co-rapporteur.

Director of the Institute for Peace and Democracy, Leyla Yunus, also considers wrong the preparation of the report on political prisoners by the Rapporteur of the Monitoring Committee. "Loyalty of this man to the Azerbaijani government, and its activities as a whole raises more questions," stressed Yunus.

Regardless of the personality of the PACE rapporteur on political prisoners in Azerbaijan, the fact of bringing this issue to the discussion and the decision to prepare a special report is important, said the head of the Media Rights Institute, Rashid Hajili. “It is necessary to work with the rapporteur, to provide the facts, and not to allow him to submit the erroneous report, and seek to conduct effective discussions,” Hajili said.

Another human rights activist and head of the NGO "Democratic monitor", Fuad Hasanov believes that “caviar diplomacy” played a role in the fact of appointing Agramunt a PACE rapporteur. However, Azerbaijan, as the chair of the Committee of Ministers, is in the focus of political prisoners and the problem requires radical solutions. “Agramunt will hardly succeed in mitigating this acute topic,” Hasanov noted.

According to the Azerbaijani news portal "Haqqin.az", the deputy of the Estonian Parliament, former PACE co-rapporteur on Azerbaijan Andres Herkel feels guilty that the problem of political prisoners is still relevant in Azerbaijan.

"I hope that my Spanish counterpart will be able to resolve this issue and to make an objective report on political prisoners in Azerbaijan, in order not have this issue as a target of controversy between Baku and PACE any longer," said Herkel.

The Azerbaijani Institute for Peace and Democracy (IPD) published a list of political prisoners present in the country. Thus, as of May 21, 2014 in Azerbaijan, there were 130 victims of political repression: 41 prisoners of conscience and 89 political prisoners.

In January last year, the European NGO "European Stability Initiative” released a report entitled "Monitoring on Azerbaijan or Pedro Agramunt should resign." ESI stated that Agramunt is the protector of the ruling regime in Azerbaijan.