“That was a mockery”: SP woman witnesses Gugger’s deportation from Azerbaijan

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SP national councilor Farah Rumy (32) flew to Azerbaijan last weekend together with four other Swiss election observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation (OSCE) to monitor the presidential elections on site.

Already upon arrival, she experienced how the state deals with unpleasant critics: EPP State Councilor Nik Gugger (53), who was traveling with her, was refused entry to the country at Baku airport. “Initially it was said that it was a technical problem. But because we all entered smoothly, we quickly realized that something was wrong,” Rumy told Blick after landing back in Switzerland on Saturday.

“A mockery”

They “considered it a travesty” that Gugger was ultimately denied entry into the country. She was also not allowed at the airport. Gugger was held at the airport for three hours. An interpreter then told the SP woman that Gugger’s trip was over and that he had to fly back. No reasons were given. Rumy said she drove sleepily to the hotel.

Apparently Gugger’s membership of the Council of Europe was his downfall. Azerbaijan had blacklisted him. The case had led to diplomatic tensions between Switzerland and Azerbaijan. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs subsequently summoned the Azerbaijani ambassador to Bern.

Unattended Ballots

As an election observer in Baku, she noticed many irregularities in her role, Rumy tells Blick. The ballot boxes were not properly sealed and she discovered the same signature several times on the signature protocols: “There must have been people who voted multiple times,” she concludes.

She also noted that people had thrown in more than one voting card at the polling station. The Azerbaijani side assured her that this person would also vote for his relatives. She also found it problematic that ballots were left unattended during the meal break.

Aliyev celebrates himself as the winner

During a walk in Baku, she had the strange feeling that she was crossing people several times, says the SP woman, who has been politicizing in the parliament in Bern since last winter. “We were then told by OSCE officials to expect to be observed as we worked on the ground.”

Rumy’s stories on the ground correspond with the official election results: President Ilham Aliyev (62), who has been in power for more than twenty years, was declared the winner again this week with 92 percent of the votes in the authoritarian South Caucasian republic of Azerbaijan .

Aliyev, who can remain in power for another seven years, increased his 2018 result by 86 percent – against the backdrop of the reconquest of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone after a war with Armenia. The oil and gas-rich country on the Caspian Sea is an important energy supplier for the EU.

No real choice

Voter turnout in the elections was reportedly around 77 percent of the more than six million eligible voters. Even before the elections, observers complained that Azerbaijanis actually had no real choice despite the repression: under Aliyev there were no real competitors and the opposition boycotted the elections in protest.

The fact that more than a dozen critical journalists who reported on corruption in Aliyev’s power apparatus were arrested in the run-up to the elections also caused outrage. Nevertheless, the state news agency Azertac celebrated Aliyev’s election victory as alleged proof of “the people’s unshakable confidence in their leader.”

Rumy says she doesn’t feel the need to travel to the Caucasus country again anytime soon. It was her first mission as an OSCE election observer.

Source:Blick