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Well-known Azerbaijani human rights defenders – director of Institute of Peace and Democracy Leyla Yunus and her husband ArifYunus – applied to the Foreign Ministry of the Netherlands asking for political asylum, Haqqin.az reports citing Lent.az.

According to the information, the Yunus couple have already submitted all the documents necessary for obtaining a political asylum and will receive an answer within a week.

On 18 April, the Supreme Court of Azerbaijan approved the cassation appeal of the famous Azerbaijani political prisoners, Leyla and ArifYunus, as a result of which, they were allowed to leave the country. It was reported that they arrived in the capital of the Netherlands, Amsterdam, on April 19.

On 30 July 2014, Leyla Yunus was arrested in the yard of her house. She was charged with high treason, tax evasion, illegal entrepreneurship, forgery and large-scale fraud. Her husband, ArifYunus, also faced charges of high treason and large-scale fraud. In August 2015, Baku Court of Grave Crimes brought in a verdict against the Azerbaijani human rights defenders Leyla and ArifYunus, sentencing them to 8.5 years and 7 years’ imprisonment respectively.

On 9 December 2015, Baku Court of Appeal ruled to release the well-known Azerbaijani rights defender Leyla Yunus from the courtroom and change her punishment to suspended sentence. On 12 November, Baku Court of Appeals made a decision to release her husband ArifYunus, one of the best-known political prisoners in Azerbaijan, from jail. His arrest was changed with a signature for not leaving the country.