Watchdog

STRASBOURG, France -- European lawmakers have passed a resolution calling for the immediate and unconditional release of investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova and several other Azerbaijani activists, human rights defenders, and lawyers.

Ismayilova, a contributor to RFE/RL, was sentenced on September 1 to 7 1/2 years in prison on charges widely seen as retribution for her reports on corruption involving senior government officials.

The resolution urges EU authorities "to conduct a thorough investigation into the corruption allegations against President [Ilham] Aliyev and members of his family."

It also calls on both the EU Commission and EU member states to mount "a strong and unified response to the crackdown under way in Azerbaijan" and to consider "targeted sanctions and visa bans on all politicians, officials and judges involved in the political persecutions.”

The text was backed by all political parties in parliament apart from the center-right European People's Party.

STRASBOURG, France – EU lawmakers have urged Russia to immediately release the Estonian police officer Eston Kohver, Ukrainian film-maker Oleg Sentsov, and civil activist Oleksandr Kolchenko.

In a resolution backed by the European Parliament's major political groups on September 10, the lawmakers condemn the "blatant violation of the territorial integrity of Ukraine and Estonia through the illegal kidnapping of citizens of both countries."

Kohver was kidnapped in Estonia in September 2014 and was recently sentenced to 15 years in prison in Russia. Sentsov and Kolchenko were sentenced to 20 and 10 years, respectively, after being arrested in the Crimea in May 2014.

The resolution says Russian courts are not "competent to judge acts committed outside the internationally recognized territory of Russia."

It also calls on European Council President Donald Tusk and EU foreign-policy chief Federica Mogherini to come up with "a comprehensive policy strategy which would enable the EU to regain the initiative and to pursue a more clear-cut policy towards Russia."