London MEP fights for release of British citizen held in Azerbaijan

1.49.39pm BST (GMT +0100) Thu 16th Jun 2005

London MEP and peer Baroness Sarah Ludford, European justice spokeswoman for the Liberal Democrats, is fighting for the release of British citizen Ms Almas Guliyeva. Ms Guliyeva was arrested on 3rd June before boarding a flight to London from Baku, Azerbaijan. Officials claim to have found a pistol in her suitcase. She had gone to Azerbaijan in order to attend a family funeral.

Ms Guliyeva, a close family member of Rasul Guliyev, the chairman of the leading opposition party in Azerbaijan, strongly denies ownership or any knowledge of the pistol. She was granted refugee status in the UK in the 1990s and now has British citizenship, and has a husband and two young sons in London. Following her arrest, she has been hospitalised following a sharp deterioration in her health.

Baroness Ludford organised and attended a meeting on Tuesday with the Azerbaijani Ambassador to London Rafael Ibrahimov, Ms Guliyeva's oldest son Ilkin Gouliev, and senior lawyer Sabine Zanker of the NGO Fair Trials Abroad (of which she is patron). She has also contacted the Foreign Secretary and the British Ambassador Laurie Bristow in Baku, as well as tabling a parliamentary question in the House of Lords. Baroness Ludford said:

"I am deeply concerned at the detention of Ms Guliyeva on grounds that appear to have no justification. I understand that she is due to be questioned tomorrow (Friday). However, I urge the Azerbaijani authorities to recognise that she needs to be returned home immediately to the UK on health grounds."

"She needs to be back quickly where she belongs, with her family in London. Any other outcome could potentially do damage to the relationship between Azerbaijan and the UK, and the EU."

ENDS