In Azerbaijan Tuesday, European Amnesty International members and activists gathered from 2.00 to 3.00 o’clock outside the Council of Europe Chairmanship ceremony to protest human rights abuses in Azerbaijan–the country that will assume the chairmanship of the human rights decision-making institution May 14.
The demonstrators called on the Azerbaijani government to assume a leadership position as Chairman in protecting human rights national and internationally. Activists also called on the Committee of Ministers to pressure Azerbaijan release its detained prisoners of conscience immediately, including NIDA activists.
NIDA–which is the Azerbaijani word for “exclamation”–was founded in 2011 by a small group of young people purposing to enact democratic and social changes in the country. The group currently has 350 members, including several politicians. Eight NIDA activists were sentences recently to jail terms of six to eight years for spurious crimes.
By Cheryl Bretton
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