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French President Francois Hollande raised rights abuses with Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev at talks, the international online news and information portal Expatica.com reports.

"We always talk about this," Hollande told journalists in Baku, referring to Azerbaijan's poor rights record, before returning to Paris following his short visit.

As the article has it, rights groups accuse the government of oil-rich Azerbaijan of using spurious charges to jail its critics and stepping up a campaign to stifle opposition since Aliyev's election to a third term in 2013.

The international organization Human Rights Watch appealed to Hollande in an open letter a few days earlier to raise the rights situation with Aliyev. France is particularly concerned over the plight of award-winning activist Leyla Yunus who has been held in prison since summer 2014 on treason, tax evasion and fraud charges despite serious health problems.

Hollande met Yunus in Baku in 2014 and decorated her with the Order of the Legion of Honor. After that Yunus was arrested in the yard of her home on July 30. She was accused of high treason, tax evasion, illegal entrepreneurship, falsification of documents and large-scale fraud. In January, German doctor Kristan Witt reported on arrested Leyla Yunus suffering from a serious illness. Nonetheless, Nasimi court in Azerbaijan extended Yunus' arrest for 5 months in February 2015. Her husband Arif Yunus also faces charges of high treason and large-scale fraud. In February 2015 Nasimi court extended his arrest till August 5, 2015.

Related:

CoE HR Commissioner calls on French President to raise Azerbaijani political prisoners’ cases in his visit to Baku 

Head of European Parliament calls for immediate release of human rights activist Leyla Yunus