SENTENCE OF AFGAN MUKHTARLI

Motion text

That this House deplores the six year prison term imposed by a court in Azerbaijan on the investigative journalist Afgan Mukhtarli, who was kidnapped in Georgia on 29 May 2017, and held in prison for six months before being brought to trial; notes that as an act of additional cruelty, the Azerbaijani authorities apparently intend to refuse Mr Mukhtarli permission to attend the funeral of his sister and her two young children who died in a domestic tragedy attributed to a carbon monoxide leak from a gas oven on 31 December 2017; further notes the concern expressed by the US State Department, and by the EU spokesperson for Foreign Affairs, over Mr Mukhtarli's imprisonment; and calls on the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs to remind the Azerbaijan Government that an attack on press freedom and human liberty such as this constitutes a flagrant breach of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The first 6 Members who have signed to support the motion are the sponsors. The primary sponsor is generally the person who tabled the motion and has responsibility for it. The date shown is when the Member signed the motion.