The week of March 13-17 saw international organizations calling for changes to the law “On Political Parties”, Milli Mejlis objected to the report of the European Parliament, and three people who protested against the water issue in Saatli arrested.
The Venice Commission and the OSCE suggest changes to the Law “On Political Parties”
The Law “On Political Parties” passed the third reading in the Milli Majlis on December 16, 2022, and on January 11 of this year, President Ilham Aliyev approved it. Already inside Azerbaijan, the law received criticism from opposition parties and activists.
The joint document of the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe and the Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the OSCE on the Law “On Political Parties” of Azerbaijan, released this week, stated the new rules raise serious concerns regarding the implementation of the right to freedom of association guaranteed by both international human rights treaties and the Constitution of Azerbaijan., with the most serious limiting points being the need to increase the minimum number of party members from 1,000 to 5,000 people and to re-register registered political parties
The opinion states that these rules raise serious concerns regarding the implementation of the right to freedom of association guaranteed by both international human rights treaties and the Constitution of Azerbaijan.
Milli Majlis objects to the report of the European Parliament
The International Relations and Interparliamentary Relations Committee of the Milli Majlis objected to the report of the European Parliament entitled “European Union-Azerbaijan Relations” [read more about it here].
The statement of the committee states that the efforts of Azerbaijan to achieve peace were deliberately ignored in the resolution adopted by the European Parliament. For this reason, the resolution is protested and strongly condemned.
At the end of the document, the committee of the Milli Majlis called on the European parliamentarians to think again: “We call on the European Parliament not to pour fuel on the fire, not to feed revanchist forces, but to have a constructive dialogue based on mutual respect and understanding .”
Arrest warrants were issued for three people who protested against the water problem in Saatli
On March 13, arrest warrants were issued for three people who were detained during the protest held by the residents of Nabatkend and Orta Mughan villages of Saatli district regarding a water supply problem. According to the information provided by local residents to Meydan TV, a total of 15 villagers were detained during the protest. Three of them were taken to court on March 14, and the rest were released.
Two of those three people were sentenced to 15 and one to 20 days of administrative imprisonment.
On March 13, residents were injured by the police while protesting [read more about it here]. According to local residents, two of the injured were discharged home after being treated at the hospital. One person is still in the hospital because his condition is relatively serious.
The Press Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs announced on March 13 that the police did not use firearms against the protestors in Saatli. Police captain Nizam Hamidov, the chief inspector of the regional group of the press service of the ministry, said that according to the law, only special measures are applied against those who do not comply with the police’s request. However, the reports did not say that the police used firearms, it was said that rubber bullets were used against the protestors.
