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Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjørn Jagland has made an announcement condemning the arrest of famous Azerbaijani human rights activist Leyla Yunus. The announcement is placed on CoE website.

“I am deeply concerned about the arrest of Leyla Yunus and the launching of a case against her husband Arif Yunus – famous human rights activists in Azerbaijan. I have expressed my concern in a telephone conversation with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammedyarov and have asked for further information,” reads Jagland’s announcement.

The CoE expressed hope that the investigation of the cases of the two famous human rights activists will be conducted according to the CoE standards.

Human rights activist Leyla Yunus was arrested on 30 July in her own house yard. She was charged with state treason, tax evasion, illegal entrepreneurship, falsification of documents and large-scale fraud. Charges of state treason and large-scale fraud were also brought against her husband Arif Yunusov. Based on these charges the court arrested Yunus for three months.

Isabel Santos, the chairman of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's Committee on Democracy and Human Rights also made a statement condemning the growing crackdown on civil society in Azerbaijan.

The OSCE representative mentioned that she was shocked at developments in recent days in Azerbaijan. Santos believes that the charges against Leyla Yunus and her husband are “clearly politicized.”

"With this latest round of attacks on the country’s civil society, Azerbaijan is making a mockery of its stated aspirations to become a modern, democratic state. The fact that these and other disturbing developments have come less than a month after Baku hosted the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's Annual Session makes them all the more shameful," highlighted Santos.