Eurovision winner Loreen speaks out for human rights as Azerbaijan petition approaches 4,000 signatures

28 May 2012

The landslide winner of the Eurovision Song Contest, Sweden’s Loreen, has thwarted Azerbaijan’s attempts to use the competition to whitewash its record on free speech.

Prior to the competition, the Euphoria singer had met Azerbaijani activists, and was quoted as saying: “Human rights are violated in Azerbaijan every day. One should not be silent about such things.”

On the night of the Eurovision final, there was huge support for Index’s petition on Azerbaijan with tweets from Stephen Fry, Graham Linehan, Owen Jones and Caitlin Moran and political support from Lord Ken MacDonald QC, Icelandic MP Birgitta Jonsdottir and MEPs Edward McMillan-Scott, Richard Howitt, Nessa Childers and David Martin.

The petition is just short of 4000 signatures – if you haven’t signed it – please sign now: Azerbaijanpetition.org

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  1. Theodros Arega (@iREFUGEEE)

    May 29, 2012 at 19:43

    respect human rights and stop cracking down the media

  2. Azerbaijan after Eurovision | Index on Censorship

    July 18, 2012 at 13:22

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  3. Eurovision's Shady Connections to an Oppressive Regime in Uzbekistan - The Atlantic - Online News Uzbekistan | Online News Uzbekistan

    May 16, 2013 at 20:59

    [...] She angered host country Azerbaijan by meeting with activists and saying rights in the oil-rich nation were abused “every day.” [...]

3 Responses to “Eurovision winner Loreen speaks out for human rights as Azerbaijan petition approaches 4,000 signatures”