Democracy activist Leyla Yunus
Azerbaijan’s Interior Minister Ramil Usubov today withdrew his lawsuit against Leyla Yunus, Director of the Institute for Peace and Democracy, a grantee of the National Endowment for Democracy. The Yasamal District Court accepted the climb-down which followed international protests from human rights and democracy advocates. “The appeals from the World Movement for Democracy played a very special role,” Yunus said.
Human rights groups had called for the authorities to abandon the case against Yunus who was accused of “insulting” the interior ministry and causing “moral damage” to the reputation of the police.
The prospect of a fair trial seemed slight. The “overwhelming majority” of the country’s courts issue “illegal and unwarranted decisions”, she recently said, noting that citizens are “practically unprotected from the arbitrariness of judges.”
Her lawyer who negotiated with Interior Ministry representatives said that they had been shocked to see so many appeals to the President’s office, the foreign ministry, interior ministry and the courts. International criticism of the suit was featured in the media and used in a widespread petition drive within the country.
The episode highlights Baku’s sensitivity to international opinion, Yunus wrote. Unlike other Central Asian regimes, notably Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan’s authorities “dread” international exposure.
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