Azeri MPs slam guilty verdict for anti-Armenian protesters
Turan news agency
1 Sep 04
Baku, 1 September: The autumn session of the Milli Maclis [Azerbaijani
parliament] started today. In the course of debates of issues on
the agenda, many MPs criticized the conviction of six activists of
the Karabakh Liberation Organization [KLO] who protested against the
arrival of Armenian officers in Baku.
Together with opposition MPs, pro-government deputies also slammed the
court verdict. MP Cahangir Huseynov said that not the KLO activists,
but employees of the prosecutor’s office and the court should be
punished.
MP Zeynab Xanlarova believes that those who “incited” the judge to
take the erroneous decision are guilty. Armenian blood runs in the
veins of those people, Xanlarova said.
MP Gular Ahmadova proposed that an appeal be adopted on behalf
of MPs asking to review the verdict on the KLO members. Only Musa
Musayev called on his colleagues not to make national heroes of the
KLO activists.
Summing up the debates, Speaker Murtuz Alasgarov said that he also
supported the KLO’s protest against the arrival of Armenians in
Baku. “However, this is a NATO requirement. And we should comply with
it if we count on NATO’s assistance in the resolution of the Karabakh
conflict,” the speaker said.
At the same time, he did not rule out that the investigation might have
“wrongly” assessed the actions of the KLO activists. But parliament
cannot interfere in the activities of another power branch, and
therefore, MPs can appeal to court individually.