Former US Assistant Secretary of State on Human Rights David Kramer said in his interview to Voice of America Radio that the situation in the field of human rights is not good in Azerbaijan and it continues to grow worse. Kramer noted that the situation of human rights did not change after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Azerbaijan in the beginning of July.
“Journalist Eynulla Fatullayev was sentenced to a long term imprisonment right after Hillary Clinton’s visit. Blogger Emin Milli who was released temporarily due to his father’s funeral was sent back to prison,” said Kramer.
In response to the question “What is your opinion regarding the present situation?” Kramer said that the situation is not good, and worsens day-by-day.
“I believe that the imprisonment of Fatullayev after Clinton’s visit confirmed that President Ilham Aliyev does not care about what the West thinks and I suppose this is very regretful,” added Kramer.
"The conviction of Fatullayev and the bloggers` situation is a stain for Azerbaijan’s reputation. The Council of Europe and the US raised this issue before the government. However, we don’t see any positive changes in Azerbaijan yet. This makes it clear that the government is either stubborn or of no value. Or they believe that the US has great interests and investments in Azerbaijan and therefore they can afford this kind of treatment to themselves,” said Kramer.