Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev stated that the country must be "ten times stronger" than Armenia "every day," explaining this by the need to maintain military superiority even after the initialing of a peace agreement between the two countries. He outlined his position on October 2 at the 8th Congress of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party in Baku.
The Azerbaijan People’s Front Party and the National Council of Democratic Forces had called on the international community to take action against the authorities. They were accused of political repression and regular human rights violations.
The appeal states that in the last month alone, 14 socio-political activists were sentenced to 30 days of administrative arrest. The number of political prisoners in Azerbaijan sentenced to terms exceeded 100. One of them, Zamin Salaev, was again prosecuted and sentenced to three months' imprisonment. The life of public activist Bakhtiyar Hajiyev, who is starving for 45 days in protest of his arrest and slander, is in danger.
«Targeted sanctions are needed against Azerbaijani officials involved in human rights violations and arrests of activists,» the authors of the appeal summarized.