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The co-rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) for the monitoring of Azerbaijan, Stefan Schennach (Austria, SOC) and Cezar Florin Preda (Romania, EPP/CD), have expressed concerns over the court order for Leyla and Arif Yunus to appear before the Baku Court of Appeals in person on 31 May 2017, the website of the PACE reports.

“After one of our fact-finding visits to the country, we welcomed the fact that a solution had been found for Mr and Ms Yunus whereby they were allowed to leave Azerbaijan on humanitarian grounds for health reasons to get medical treatment abroad, and join their daughter in the Netherlands”, the co-rapporteurs said.

The co-rapporteurs consider that the court order, which could result in international arrest warrants being issued against them is not consistent with the previous solution that was based on humanitarian grounds. Under the current circumstances, their return should not be considered as an option. Their medical conditions still require treatment.

The rapporteurs will look into this issue during their forthcoming visit to the country in June 2017.

To note, in August 2015 Leyla Yunus was sentenced to 8.5 years in prison in Baku on charges of treason, allegedly spying for Armenia and other fake charges. Arif Yunus was sentenced to 7 years of imprisonment. Following much criticism by international organizations and structures, on 9 December 2015, Leyla Yunus was released due to experiencing health issues and the court suspended her sentence. Arif Yunus was released in November 2015. The couple left for the Netherlands from Baku to receive treatment, with their daughter living and working there.