The co-rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) for the monitoring of Azerbaijan, Stefan Schennach (Austria, SOC) and Cezar Florin Preda (Romania, EPP/CD), have expressed concerns over the court order for Leyla and Arif Yunus to appear before the Baku Court of Appeals in person on 31 May 2017.
“After one of our fact-finding visits to the country, we welcomed the fact that a solution had been found for Mr and Ms Yunus whereby they were allowed to leave Azerbaijan on humanitarian grounds for health reasons to get medical treatment abroad, and join their daughter in the Netherlands”, the co-rapporteurs said.
The co-rapporteurs consider that the court order, which could result in international arrest warrants being issued against them is not consistent with the previous solution that was based on humanitarian grounds. Under the current circumstances, their return should not be considered as an option. Their medical conditions still require treatment.
The rapporteurs will look into this issue during their forthcoming visit to the country in June 2017.