The Penitentiary Service of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Justice has clarified the issue of not allowing the European Commission's Vice-President Neelie Kroes to visit one of the facilities of sentence.
According to Ministry spokesman Mehman Sadigov, On 6 November, the Azerbaijani representation of the Council of Europe, in violation of the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations and common international practice, without appealing to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, appealed directly to the Penitentiary Service by sending a note verbale with the relevant text.
It stated the request of Kroes to visit the facility of sentence in the delegation of eight people. Without waiting for a response, the delegation arrived on 8 November in one of the institutions, and unnecessarily mentioning the country's leadership, demanded permission to go to the institution that bears the status of a protected public facility and meet with prisoners.
The delegation was explained that such a request violates all procedural rules and laws of Azerbaijan and international treaties.
Many international organizations and accredited diplomatic missions in Azerbaijan have requested to be allowed to visit prisons and meet some prisoners - citizens of Azerbaijan.
Despite the fact that the European Union and the European Commission have no right to visit institutions of sentence, the Azerbaijani representation of the EU has repeatedly appealed to the Ministry of Justice and the Prison Service for permission to visit the prison. Most often, such permission was given, and representatives of the EU and the European Commission, together with representatives of accredited diplomatic missions in Azerbaijan, visited the institutions of sentence and met with the prisoners.
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