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“Germany’s chancellor Angela Merkel should make clear to Azerbaijan that Germany will not send a high-level government delegation to the European Games unless activists behind bars are freed.” The international human rights organisation “Human Rights Watch” turned to Merkel with this statement noting that the first European Games is a chance for release of unjustly jailed activists.

As the statement has it, Merkel is scheduled to meet Aliyev in Berlin on January 21, 2015, to discuss bilateral relations, energy policy, and other issues. Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch, noted that the Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev is seeking a greater legitimacy by meeting the world leaders and hosting mega sporting events.

“Merkel should send a clear message that closer political and economic ties with Europe are directly linked to Azerbaijan’s release of unjustly jailed journalists and human rights advocates and respect for fundamental human rights,” he stated.

He also noted that Merkel should not miss this opportunity to urge Azerbaijan’s president, in public and in private, to end this attack on human rights, as long as the charges against these activists are politically motivated.

The statement also provides with information regarding the crackdowns in Azerbaijan, through which the Azerbaijani authorities used a range of bogus criminal charges, including narcotics and weapons possession, tax evasion, hooliganism, incitement, and even treason, to arrest or imprison at least 30 government critics (human rights defenders, political and civil activists, journalists, and bloggers) 2014 alone. The country has also adopted legislative changes and other restrictive measures to virtually close space for independent groups. At least three of the country’s most established human rights groups have been forced to close, and numerous others had to halt operations.

Particularly the names of the following people are mentioned in the statement: Leyla Unus, a human rights defender, her husband Arif Unus, a historian, Rasul Jafarov, Human Rights Club director, Intigam Aliyev, head of the Legal Education Society, Khadija Ismayilova, investigative journalist, Anar Mammadli, chairman of the Election Monitoring and Democracy Studies Center, and Ilgar Mammadov, political analyst and opposition party leader.