Global Voices Online

Leigh’s new adventure in Azerbaijan posts news of an appeal on behalf of Eynulla Fatullayev, editor of an Azerbaijani newspaper, currently facing prosecution in Azerbaijan. The blog says that with a “lack of transparency in the Azeri court system, it is hard to know if anyone is ever guilty or innocent.”

Recent Links also in Central Asia & Caucasus

Musafirbek says that the president of Uzbekistan officially thanked the cotton-growers for gathering the harvest of this strategic product for Uzbekistan. However, those who sweat away, collecting this cotton (including children) were not mentioned in the president’s address.

Alexander Visotzky writes about the opening of a monument in Astana, the new capital of Kazakhstan, where the authorities uncovered a 15-foot high bronze statue of incumbent president Nursultan Nazarbayev.

Dafydd reports that the EU has lifted the arms embargo on Uzbekistan. Reasons given are abolishment of the death penalty and release of political prisoners.