U.S. Congressman Chris Smith, Chairman of the House Global Human Rights Subcommittee, issued the following statement in response to reports that Irada Bayramova, the wife of Azerbaijani political prisoner Dr. Gubad Ibadoglu, continues to suffer severe physical trauma from a brutal arrest executed last year by Azerbaijani police:

       “The savage beating of a political prisoner’s wife—a woman who has not engaged in any public political activity—marks a new low for the Azerbaijani government.

       Azerbaijan’s ruthless dictator Ilham Aliyev bears total responsibility for the current state of Dr. Ibadoglu’s health and for that of his wife Irada.

       The Biden Administration must do everything in its power to assist and protect Dr. Ibadoglu, his wife Irada, and their children—including their son who recently graduated from Rutgers University—from further threats and speak out much more boldly in the defense of Aliyev’s political prisoners.”

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