Human rights activists let go

Arif and Leyla Yunus, Azerbaijani human rights activists, have finally managed to leave Azerbaijan for treatment.

As Elchin Sadygov, the Yunus’ lawyer told the APA news agency, on April 18, the Supreme Court had sustained his clients’ cassation appeal.

As Radio Liberty reports, their daughter, Dinara Yunus, met them at the Schiphol Airport today.
The human rights activists have been received today at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. According to Dutch Foreign Minister, Bert Koenders, the period the couple will stay in the country depends on their health condition and if they can appeal for political asylum after the treatment.

• Arif and Leyla Yunus, human rights activists, were arrested in 2014 and sentenced to 7.5 and 8 years in prison respectively, for swindling, illegal entrepreneurship, tax evasion and document forgery on August 13, 2015.
• On December 9, 2015, those terms of imprisonment were replaced by a conditional sentence, as the convicts’ health condition was critical.
• On February 11, the Baku Court denied the Yunus couple’s permission to seek medical treatment abroad.

Published 19. 04. 2016