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A prominent human rights activist in Azerbaijan, Leyla Yunus, has been sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison, her husband, Arif Yunus, was given seven years. The couple says the case was politically motivated, BBC writes .

Leyla, 59, is director of the Institute for Peace and Democracy. She was found guilty of fraud, illegal entrepreneurship, tax evasion and falsifying official documents. She and her husband also face separate charges of treason, which carries a life sentence.
Tanya Lokshina, the Russia program director at Human Rights Watch, told the Russian service of BBC that the Azerbaijani authorities did their best to complete the case as soon as possible. Lokshina is sure the verdict handed down to them punished them for their human rights work. According to the information of Human Rights Watch, two of three lawyers defending Leyla Yunus were suspended from the case as a result of disciplinary punishment and illegal curt investigation.

Gerald Staberock, Secretary General of OMCT, is of similar opinion https://www.fidh.org/International-Federation-for-Human-Rights/eastern-europe-central-asia/azerbaijan/azerbaijan-verdict-against-leyla-and-arif-yunus-is-outrageous-and. “The judgment is full of inaccuracies due to a total lack of examination of the evidence provided. Violations of international standards of the right to a fair trial were obvious,” he pointed.

Leyla Yunus’ lawyer Ramiz Mamedov told The Guardian  that the charges of fraud, tax evasion and embezzlement were not proved at the trial.

FIDH (The International Federation for Human Rights) Honorary President, Souhayr Belhassen, commented  on the judgment against the human rights defenders, by saying, “Our organisations strongly condemn today’s sentences in the Yunus case, as well as all the previous sentences against other human rights defenders in the country. They only aimed to silence critical voices.”

FIDH reports that Arif Yunus fainted during the trial and his lawyer declared that his client’s health did not permit him to participate in the hearings any longer. However, this did not prevent the trial from continuing as scheduled.

Amnesty International  called the charges against the couple “absurd” and urged the Azerbaijani government to release Leyla and Arif Yunus. “The judicial system has once again revealed itself to be no more than a cynical tool by which President Ilham Aliyev crushes any dissent or criticism of his regime,” Levan Asatiani, campaigner at Amnesty International, said.

Index on Censorship also condemned Arif and Leyla Yunus’ sentencing. “Index calls on the international community to take concrete actions to pressure the government of Azerbaijan to respect freedom of expression and release all journalists and human rights activists in prison,” the group said in a statement.

Human Rights Watch, whose representative attended the trial, reports  that Arif Yunus was medicated throughout the trial with strong injections and could barely understand anything, but the court paid no heed. The judge denied even minor technical motions, such as the defense’s request to allow Leyla and Arif Yunus to sit with their lawyers. “The timing and circumstances of the criminal charges indicate that they are a thin pretext aimed at smearing the Yunuses, stopping and punishing their work, and intimidating other activists,” Human Rights Watch said. “The case against the Yunuses is part of the government’s sweeping crackdown on perceived critics and independent groups.”

Ane Tusvik Bonde, Regional Manager for Eastern Europe and Caucasus at the Human Rights House Foundation (HRHF), called  on the international community to support Leyla and Arif Yunus and demand their immediate release. “The Azerbaijani authorities are doing everything they can to shut down independent civil society. This sentence stands as an example of the criminalisation of lawful activities to promote human rights. It is simply appalling,” Ane Tusvik Bonde said. The organization calls on the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to suspend the credentials of the Azerbaijani delegation.

On 13 August 2015, Baku Court of Grave Crimes brought in a verdict against the Azerbaijani human rights defenders Leyla and Arif Yunus, sentencing them to 8.5 years and 7 years’ imprisonment respectively. On 6 August 2015, during Leyla and Arif Yunus trial in Baku Court of Grave Crimes, prosecutor Farid Nagiyev called on the court to sentence Leyla Yunus to 11 years’ imprisonment and her husband 9 years finding guilty of swindle, tax evasion and abuses.

In 2014, Francois Hollande, the French President, met Leyla Yunus in Baku and awarded her with the Order of the Legion of Honor. Later, on 30 July, Yunus was arrested in the yard of her house. She was charged with high treason, tax evasion, illegal entrepreneurship, forgery and large-scale fraud. In January, media reported that the German doctor Christian Vitt confirmed that the arrested human rights defender suffered from a serious disease. However, in February 2015, Azerbaijani Nasimi District Court extended Leyla Yunus’ pretrial detention for five months. He husband, Arif Yunusov, also faces charges of high treason and large-scale fraud.

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Azerbaijani human rights defenders, spouses Yunus, sentenced to 8.5 and 7 years’ imprisonment