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The international human rights organization Human Rights Watch sent a letter to President Francois Hollande of France asking him to urge President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan to free four human rights defenders jailed unjustly in Azerbaijan.

The statement notes that Hollande will meet with Aliyev in Paris on October 27, 2014.

“Hollande has a crucial opportunity he should not miss to raise human rights issues with Azerbaijan’s president,” said Jean-Marie Fardeau, Paris director at Human Rights Watch. “The charges against these activists in Azerbaijan are politically motivated, and Hollande’s voice is badly needed to help secure their freedom.”

The article notes that the four activists – Leyla Yunus and her husband, Arif; Intigam Aliyev; and Rasul Jafarov – are among the country’s most prominent human rights defenders. In the past two-and-a-half years the Azerbaijani authorities brought or threatened blatantly bogus criminal charges against dozens of independent and opposition political activists, journalists, bloggers, and human rights defenders, most of whom are now behind bars.

“Even as they risked arrest themselves, these human rights defenders were working for justice,” Fardeau said. “Hollande should make clear to Aliyev that Azerbaijan’s relationship with France can’t be business as usual as long as these four people remain behind bars and the crackdown against independent voices continues,” notes Jean-Marie Fardeau.

Human Rights Watch reminds that President Hollande and Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius met with Leyla Yunus during their visit to Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, in May.