Ukrainian NGOs appeal to protect Fikrat Guseinov - statement

We, Ukrainian media and advocacy organizations, address the General Prosecutor's Office of Ukraine with a demand to urgently finalize the extradition verification procedure of journalist  Fikrat Guseinov, and enable him to return to the Netherlands without obstructions. Our opinion is that in Ukraine, this journalist is under a serious threat. This is related, in particular, to an attempt of unidentified people wearing civilian clothes, some of whom were speaking Azerbaijani language, to kidnap Guseinov - it happened on March 5 in Kyiv. Our opinion is that Fikrat Guseinov should not under any circumstances be subjected to extradition to the third country – Azerbaijan, due to the risk to his life and health it entails. We are reminding you that there is a relevant Resolution of the Parliamentary Assembly of the European Council, where concern is expressed on the situation with human rights in Azerbaijan, and this resolution directly mentions the name of Fikrat Guseinov, in relation to kidnapping and torture he suffered in Azerbaijan. We appeal to the law enforcement agencies to make a final resolution, taking into account all risks to life, health and rights of Guseinov mentioned above that he will bear in case of extradition to Azerbaijan. We also appeal to the Administration of the President of Ukraine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, and the Ministry of Information Policy of Ukraine, to bring the situation  under their control and to take efforts to secure non-violation of rights and freedoms of F. Guseinov. NGO “Institute of Mass Information” NGO “ Human Rights Platform” NGO “Center of information on human rights” NGO “Detector media” NGO “Center for Democracy and Supremacy of Law” NGO “Internews Ukraine” NGO "Information Security" As IMI reported before, on March 13, the Azerbaijani opposition journalist Fikrat Guseinov appealed to the international community, the USA, EU, and the Kingdom of Netherlands, to help him to leave Ukraine. On March 5, Fikrat Gusainov stated, that people wearing civilian clothes, who introduced themselves as Ukrainian police officers, tried to kidnap him in Kyiv from his rented apartment. Guseinov managed to escape by jumping out of the window. Guseinov was detained on October 14, 2017, in the airport “Boryspil” - he is employee of “Turan TV” and newspaper “Azaldyg”. The State Boder Guards of Ukraine reported that the reason for detention was that he was on the Interpol red list - Azerbaijan accuses him of fraud. On October 27, 2017, the Court of Appeals of Kyiv oblast released the journalist against the guarantee of MP Mykola Kniazhytskyi.