YEREVAN, OCTOBER 9, ARMENPRESS. A court in Baku will hear the appeal against the convictions of the prominent rights defenders Leyla and Arif Yunus on October 12, 2015. The flawed convictions, reached after a trial that flouted fair trial norms, should not be allowed to stand and the authorities should immediately drop all outstanding charges and release the couple.

As “Armenpress” reports, citing “Turan” news agency, Rachel Denber, deputy Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch said: “The court can take a step toward restoring rule of law and justice in Azerbaijan. Recognizing that the convictions of Leyla and Arif Yunus are incompatible with Azerbaijan’s human rights obligations would be the first, vital step toward reversing the terrible miscarriage of justice that they have endured.”

Leyla Yunus was sentenced on August 13 to eight-and-a-half years in prison, and her husband, Arif, to seven years after a politically motivated prosecution and a trial that fell far short of international standards. The couple has also been charged with treason, for which the authorities have said they will be tried later.

Leyla Yunus, one of Azerbaijan’s leading human rights activists, is head of the Institute for Peace and Democracy, and Arif Yunus is a historian who was an expert adviser for the group.

Arif Yunus has a heart condition and suffers from severe hypertension. He suffered two strokes when he was temporarily detained at the Baku airport in April 2014. During an August 3 hearing of his trial, he lost consciousness when his blood pressure spiked.

“Leyla and Arif Yunus need treatment and should never have been in prison in the first place,” Denber said. “The conduct of their trial given their poor health exposed it for the mockery of justice it was.”

After a rushed trial , which began on July 27 and which many independent observers and journalists were prevented from attending, Leyla Yunus was found guilty of swindling, tax evasion, forgery, and illegal business activity for running two unregistered human rights groups through a registered organization from 2006 through 2014.

Since 2012, the government has harassed, intimidated, and arrested dozens of human rights activists, independent journalists, political figures, and bloggers. Many of the country’s most outspoken activists are behind bars .