On July 31, Azerbaijan’s General Prosecutor’s Office and Ministry of National Security issued a joint statement that Azerbaijani human rights defenders Leyla and Arif Yunus have been charged with cooperating with the Armenian special services, Azerbaijan’s Trend news agency reported.
The husband and wife were charged on July 30. Leyla Yunus, who is director of the Institute for Peace and Democracy, a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor of France, and recipient of the Theodore Hecker International Award, was charged with treason, tax evasion, falsifying documents, large-scale fraud, and involvement in illegal business.
The court has decided to remand her in pretrial detention for three months. Arif Yunus, who was charged with treason and large-scale fraud, has been placed under house arrest.
“Having contacted various Azerbaijani citizens whose names have yet to be made public, and through Armenia’s special services, Leyla and Arif Yunus carried out their specific assignments with tasks associated with the collection of information to be used against Azerbaijan, including the current Azerbaijani socio-political situation, industry, military equipment security, and campaigning for the recognition of the independence of the Armenia-installed regime in Nagorno-Karabakh,” the joint statement reads.
At the end of April, Yunus was questioned regarding the case of Rauf Mirkadirov, Ankara correspondent of the newspaper “Zerkalo.” Mirkadirov too is accused of working with the Armenian special services. Mr. and Mrs. Yunus’ passports were confiscated during the interrogation and have yet to be returned.
The international human rights organization Amnesty International believes the charges against the two are fabricated.
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