Azerbaijan: Authorities must halt crackdown on dissent and incarceration of activists in conditions prone to the spread of COVID-19

Amid growing concerns over the spread of Covid-19 in prisons, not only do the Azerbaijani authorities continue to hold their unfairly prosecuted critics behind bars, they have stepped up their campaign of incarceration of political opponents on spurious and politically motivated charges under the pretext of fighting the pandemic. This is the latest offensive against freedom of expression and other fundamental human rights in the country. Moreover, given the recent cases of COVID-19 infections in Azerbaijani penitentiary institutions, detained individuals are also exposed to higher risk of contracting the virus.

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