Schulz was commenting on last week’s sentencing in Azerbaijan of Leyla and Arif Yunus on financial mismanagement and tax charges.

His comments were seized upon by an Azerbaijani MP who said they amount to an attack on the judiciary of a free and sovereign nation.

"If you believe Azerbaijan ’is an important partner’ then act accordingly,” said Elkhan Suleymanov, chairman of the Azerbaijani delegation to the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly, in a letter to the parliament this week.

"How would you react if the Azeri Parliament would constantly call for the release from jails of various German citizens, tried and sentenced under German laws?”

On the issue of the Azerbaijani criminal code, Suleymanov said the Azerbaijani tax policy is no tougher than that of EU Member States, including Germany. "If those charged with tax crimes are found guilty, they are sentenced in accordance with the severity of their crime”.

And on the specific issue of the Yunus’ incarceration, he told Schulz that all prisoners in Azerbaijan are treated according the highest standards of humanitarian law.

Suleymanov has long been critical of the European Parliament and its "attacks, resolutions and declarations” against his nation, which he warned in late 2014 cast a "grave shadow” over its objectivity.

He said this is particularly irritating to the Azeri people, given they are also told by Europe what an important partner Azerbaijan is in the areas of energy security, regional diplomacy and the fight against terrorism.

 

(PRNnews)