Azerbaijan will start the official campaign period for October Presidential elections with at least 14 new prisoners of conscience, Amnesty International said today, after the country’s Central Election Commission announced on Friday the election date would be 9 October.

In its statement the organization called to immediate release of all opposition candidates, journalists and human rights defenders who have been imprisoned in a pre-election crackdown on dissenting voices.

In recent months the regime has particularly targeted youth activists using social networks to call for free elections and free speech, the statement reads.