One day after the telephone conversation with the US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, during which the American side also raised the issue of human rights and freedom of speech in Azerbaijan, Anar Mammadli, the head of the Election Observation Center NGO, was arrested in Baku. The police searched his and his parents’ apartments. Computers, electronic drives, documents were confiscated. According to unspecified information, “a large amount of money in foreign currency was discovered and seized” in Mamedli’s apartment.
Most likely, he will be charged with the same charge that has already detained about a dozen journalists and public figures: “foreign currency smuggling”. At a joint press conference with the Chancellor of Germany, Aliyev stated that the latest arrests were made “within the framework of the law”. He argued that people “are financed from abroad by circumventing the law”.
After a telephone conversation with the US Secretary of State, to charge a famous public figure with the same motivation means to declare a demarche to Washington, not to accept Washington’s “urge” for the “immediate release” of detained persons. What motivated Aliyev to such a decision? Apparently, the draft of the “sanction” resolution presented in the House of Representatives of the US Congress.
According to reports, a group of American legislators included the names of State Security Service Director Naghiyev, Deputy Minister of Defense Mirzoyev, and the commander of a separate brigade of the Special Purpose Troops Salayev in the “sanction list”. They are accused of committing violence and war crimes against civilians in Nagorno Karabakh.
Mamedli’s arrest will undoubtedly be criticized by human rights organizations. Apparently, Aliyev’s calculation is that during the discussions about the political prisoners, it is possible to convince the State Department to exert influence on the congressmen, and the proposed resolution will not be accepted. The issue here is not the protection of human rights.
If the US Congress recognizes Naghiev, Mirzoev and Salaev as “war criminals” and appropriate sanctions are applied, then the issue of the ethnic cleansing carried out in Nagorno Karabakh in September of last year becomes relevant, along with political consequences. What can be expected from the US Congress? According to reports, “the sanctions resolution is already bipartisan, twenty-one congressmen support the initiative.”
Will the Biden administration interfere in congressional deliberations?
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