The European Union (EU) calls on Azerbaijan to release Azerbaijani human rights activist Leyla Yunus and her husband Arif Yunus.

The aforementioned is noted in a statement by EU High Representative/Vice-President Federica Mogherini.

The Baku Court of Grave Crimes on Thursday sentenced Leyla and Arif Yunus—who were charged with large-scale fraud—to 8.5 and 7 years in prison, respectively.

“We call on Azerbaijan to release Leyla and Arif Yunus, while their cases need to be reviewed in a transparent and fair process,” reads Mogherini’s statement, reported RIA Novosti news agency of Russia. 

“The legal process leading to these convictions was, as reported by the international monitors observing the trials, seriously flawed. The charges moreover seem to be connected solely to their human rights work. The sentencing confirms the negative trend when it comes to Azerbaijan’s respect for its international commitments on human rights and fundamental freedoms,” the statement also notes.

According to the investigation hypothesis, Leyla Yunus—the Founder and Director of the Institute for Peace and Democracy—had “received grants from international organizations, and under the name of implementing joint projects with an Armenian center.” Subsequently, and through her husband, Yunus had supposedly used these funds to “improve the financial condition of those whom she had tried to recruit for espionage activities.” Leyla Yunus, however, refutes these charges.

The Yunus couple is accused of high treason, too, but this case has been separated, reported the BBC Russian Service.