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President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Anne Brasseur condemned the termination of Khalid Bagirov’s advocacy in Azerbaijan, who was defending the rights of the prisoner, civil activist Ilgar Mammadov.

Against the background of increasing intimidation of human rights defenders in Azerbaijan, such clear pressure on independent lawyers defending civil society activists is unacceptable,” said Anne Brasseur.

She also noted that Mr Mammadov still remains in prison, notwithstanding the final judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg that his detention was against the standards of the European Convention on Human Rights.
“I once again call on the Azerbaijani authorities to free Mr Mammadov without further delay and to refrain from targeting civil rights activists and their lawyers,” concluded Brasseur.

Leader of REAL Ilgar Mammadov was arrested because of organizing riots in Ismayilli on January 23-24 regardless the fact that he arrived to Ismayilli region after the beginning of the riots. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have declared Mammadov a prisoner of conscience.