News 16 June 2015

INTERVIEW: Emma Hughes on the Baku 2015 European Games

Last Tuesday, Emma Hughes of human rights organisation Platform was deported from Baku, after being told that was on a ‘red list’ of people not permitted to enter the country. She is in good company – Amnesty International has also been refused permission to enter the country, as has The Guardian newspaper. They all have one thing in common – they have highlighted the human rights abuses behind Baku’s hosting of the inaugural edition of the European Olympic Games.

In this interview with the Sports Integrity Initiative, Hughes outlines how the European Olympic Committees (EOC) and BP are using initiatives such as paying athletes and their entourage to attend the Games in order that it appears to be a success. She argues that the EOC and BP are keen to do this in order to deflect attention away from the fact that through its financial support for an oil pipeline from Azerbaijan to Europe, BP is supporting human rights abuses perpetrated by the Azeri regime.

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