[6] In April 1990, Yunus published an essay "The Responsibilities of a Politician", arguing for a democratic middle course and rejecting both extreme nationalism and the violent repressions of the Soviet regime.

[10] In 1998, she participated in the European Consultation of the International Fellowship of Reconciliation's Women Peacemakers Program (WPP), together with an Armenian counterpart, on active nonviolence.

[14] Authorities bulldozed Yunus' Baku office with only a few minutes' warning on 11 August 2011, the same day an article appeared in The New York Times in which she criticized forced evictions.

Azerbaijani Member of Parliament Khadi Musa Redzhabli denied that the bulldozing had been connected with Yunus' human rights work.

[2] Fifty-two human rights organisations from 14 countries, including Index on Censorship and the Rafto Foundation, sent a joint letter of concern to the Azerbaijani authorities condemning the demolition.

[17] On 28 April 2014, Yunus and her husband Arif were detained at the Heydar Aliyev International Airport on their way to Doha, Qatar and charged with fraud and tax evasion.

[19] Prohibited from communicating with her husband directly, she has written an open letter which has been translated and published on various websites, and in which she has stated that "We [...] never would have predicted that the 21st century would bring [back] the repression of the 1930s.

"[20] The detention of Leyla and Arif Yunus, as well as Rasul Jafarov, has largely been regarded as another step in the state crackdown on civil society in Azerbaijan.

[35] In announcing the Sakharov award, the European Parliament also stated that it had "decided to send a delegation with representatives from all political groups to Azerbaijan to meet and support Leyla Yunus in her fight for democracy and freedom in her country.

[39] Leyla Yunus received the Polish Prize of Sérgio Vieira de Mello in October 2014, for her personal achievement in the fight for human rights.