Samad Seyidov, chairman of the International and Interparliamentary Relations Committee of the Azerbaijani parliament, said on January 30 in Washington that no one in Azerbaijan has been arrested because of their political views.

Speaking at an event at the Atlantic Council think tank, Seyidov said "Nobody in Azerbaijan [has been] restricted or arrested because of their political [beliefs] or other things."

He added that the way to "exclude" Azerbaijan from further integration with Europe and a closer alliance with the United States was to raise human rights concerns with the Baku government.