Free Huseyn !

Huseyn Abdullayev was arrested in April 2018 by anti-terrorism police in the city centre of Istanbul. Turkish officials handed him over to Azerbaijani officials within 24 hours. He was then taken to Baku, despite having been granted political asylum in Germany in 2013 and possessing a valid passport issued by the German state. This was neither an extradition nor a deportation: It was kidnapping. At the end of August, the UN’s Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) called for Husyen Abdullayev’s immediate release. The commission determined that both his arrest in Turkey, as well as his imprisonment in Baku, were illegal. Towards the end of March, in an open letter addressed to Chancellor Merkel, we asked Germany to lodge a formal protest against Turkey and Azerbaijan, and called for the issue of Huseyn Abdullayev’s liberation to be pressed at the highest level of political power in Baku. Unsuccessfully. Today, following the UN’s latest decision, we reiterate our demand to Germany through a press conference.