{"id":174855,"date":"2016-04-04T17:37:51","date_gmt":"2016-04-04T17:37:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/article\/did-prisoner-releases-help-secure-washingtons-welcome\/"},"modified":"2021-10-29T12:59:19","modified_gmt":"2021-10-29T08:59:19","slug":"did-prisoner-releases-help-secure-washingtons-welcome","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/article\/did-prisoner-releases-help-secure-washingtons-welcome\/","title":{"rendered":"Did Prisoner Releases Help Secure Washington’s Welcome?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n \"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\n Azerbaijan was welcomed at
\n
\n the Nuclear Security Summit
\n <\/a>
\n in Washington, DC on March 30 as an international energy security and counterterrorism asset, while the country\u2019s repressive ways gained only a faint mention.<\/p>\n


\n US Secretary of State John Kerry
\n <\/a>
\n thanked Aliyev for making it to the March 31-April 1 summit and praised Azerbaijan\u2019s role in helping Europe meet its energy needs. \u201cAzerbaijan is located in a complex region right now and I think President Aliyev has been very studious and thoughtful about how to respond to some of those needs, particularly with his leadership on the Southern Gas Corridor,\u201d Kerry\u00a0said.<\/p>\n

In his public remarks, Kerry skipped the controversial matter of Azerbaijan\u2019s political prisoners. Only
\n
\n a post-meeting\u00a0press release
\n <\/a>
\n \u00a0took note of Azerbaijan\u2019s \u201crecent positive steps\u201d and urged \u201cfurther progress\u201d on the human-rights front.<\/p>\n

These positive steps include the March 17 pardon of 14 individuals described by human rights watchdogs as political prisoners. As the Nuclear Security Summit approached, widely respected human rights lawyer
\n
\n Intigam Aliyev
\n <\/a>
\n , in prison for nearly a year, was freed when the Azerbaijani Supreme Court replaced his 7.5-year sentence for alleged illegal business activities, abuse of power and tax evasion (a familiar trio) with a suspended five-year sentence.
\n
\n Amnesty International
\n <\/a>
\n \u00a0described\u00a0the move as \u201clong overdue steps\u201d toward correcting the \u201cinjustice\u201d done to the lawyer and \u201call remaining prisoners of conscience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some observers think that the prison doors are opening because Aliyev needs to cushion Western criticism amidst an economic squeeze. Low prices for oil, a commodity that helps support Aliyev\u2019s rule, led to
\n
\n an unusually bold display of public anger
\n <\/a>
\n earlier this year over Azerbaijan\u2019s weakened economy and two-time depreciated currency.\n<\/p>\n

\n Azerbaijan has denied, though, that it is seeking international financial assistance, and still sticks to vanity projects, such as plans to host a Formula One race this summer in the capital, Baku. Its lackluster record on the civil-rights front did not prevent the
\n
\n World Bank
\n <\/a>
\n on March 28 from granting Azerbaijan an additional, $140-million loan for highway construction.\n<\/p>\n

\n Other calculations could be in mind, too. The confrontation over Syria between
\n
\n Russia and NATO member Turkey
\n <\/a>
\n has threatened regional security and the
\n
\n South Caucasus countries
\n <\/a>
\n were pressured to take sides.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt looks like [Aliyev] needs the West a bit more and
\n
\n Russia and Turkey
\n <\/a>
\n a bit less at the moment and keeping pro-Western liberal critics in jail no longer seems such a good idea,\u201d commented Thomas de Waal, South Caucasus analyst and Senior Associate Fellow with Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.\n<\/p>\n

\n But
\n
\n Aliyev\u2019s invitation to the Nuclear Security Summit
\n <\/a>
\n came in January, long before any release of prisoners.<\/p>\n

Azerbaijani prisons still hold pro-Western liberal critics, most notably investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova, a former employee of US-government-funded RFE\/RL. The Supreme Court plans to hear a complaint about the dismissed appeal of her case,
\n
\n Interfax
\n <\/a>
\n reported this week. Intigam Aliyev’s release has sparked some Azerbaijani journalists to hope that the court will free Ismayilova as well.\n<\/p>\n

\n But Baku has not yet kicked the habit of arresting independent thinkers. Just as Aliyev was headed to Washington,
\n
\n writer Akram Aylisli
\n <\/a>
\n was\u00a0briefly detained\u00a0in the Baku airport and prevented from travelling to Italy for a literary festival.<\/p>\n

Aylisli ran afoul of\u00a0the political establishment because of his 2013 novel Stone Dreams, which did not follow the official line on the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over breakaway Nagorno Karabakh. He was then stripped of his state pension and the title of national writer. Hafiz Hajiyev, leader of the Modern Musavat Party, went so far as to\u00a0offer\u00a0a financial reward to
\n
\n anyone who would cut off the writer\u2019s ears.
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Human-rights activists, both Azerbaijani and foreign, caution Western leaders not to be taken in by
\n
\n Aliyev\u2019s attempts to polish his image
\n <\/a>
\n . Pressure should be kept on Baku until all controversially arrested individuals are freed,
\n
\n Human Rights Watch
\n <\/a>
\n advised.\n<\/p>\n

\n The caveat is, critics complain, that when\u00a0Western governments think of Azerbaijan, they tend to think first of a big gas pipeline, and only later of a repressive government.\n<\/p>\n

\n So far, no outward sign at the Nuclear Security Summit that that tradition has changed.\n<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n Originally published by
\n
\n Eurasianet.org
\n <\/a>
\n .
\n <\/b>
\n <\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Azerbaijan was welcomed at the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, DC on March 30 as an international energy security and counterterrorism asset, while the country\u2019s repressive ways gained only a faint mention.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":53463,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-174855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","infinite-scroll-item","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33","no-featured-image-padding"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDid Prisoner Releases Help Secure Washington's Welcome? - MEYDAN.TV<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/article\/did-prisoner-releases-help-secure-washingtons-welcome\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Did Prisoner Releases Help Secure Washington's Welcome? 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