Detentions at an oppositional rally in Baku on October 19, 2019. Photo by Aziz Karimov for the "Caucasian Knot"

20 October 2019, 11:14

Police conduct harsh detentions at rally in Baku

60 people were detained at an oppositional rally in Baku; 42 were released after warning; materials on the remaining 18 will be sent to courts, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) has informed. Oppositionists claim that there were "much more" detainees.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the authorities had allowed the National Council of Democratic Forces (NCDF) to hold a rally in a Baku suburb. However, activists decided to gather at the metro station in a Baku square. On October 17, opposition leaders reported the detention of the rally organizers. Today, law enforcers conducted mass detentions. According to the opposition, about a hundred people were detained.

Alesker Mamedli, a member of the "Civil Society Platform", has treated the confrontation of policemen with supporters of the opposition as "an unannounced introduction of the state of emergency."

"The police have seriously limited the citizens' freedom of travel by blocking many streets in central Baku ... The providers of Internet services stopped working for several hours, which caused damages to citizens and private businesses," Mr Mamedli has explained.

"The city administration has restricted the citizens' freedom of assembly. And the police behaved excessively aggressively with people, who protested peacefully," Alesker Mamedli has added.

In his turn, Siyavush Novruzov, a deputy executive secretary of the ruling "Eni Azerbaijan" Party, has accused the opposition of provocations.

"These people wanted not to hold a rally, but to provoke ... Their goal was to denigrate the image of Azerbaijan in the international arena," the "report.az" quotes him as saying.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on October 19, 2019 at 09:16 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Author: Faik Medjid Source: CK correspondent

All news
НАСТОЯЩИЙ МАТЕРИАЛ (ИНФОРМАЦИЯ) ПРОИЗВЕДЕН И РАСПРОСТРАНЕН ИНОСТРАННЫМ АГЕНТОМ ООО “МЕМО”, ЛИБО КАСАЕТСЯ ДЕЯТЕЛЬНОСТИ ИНОСТРАННОГО АГЕНТА ООО “МЕМО”.

February 21, 2025 22:22

February 21, 2025 21:10

February 20, 2025 23:59

  • In Chechnya, sending to war is method to punish drivers

    Chechen law enforcers are monitoring social networks and reveal violators of traffic rules, who may face both public reprimand and sending to the special military operation (SMO) zone. The effect of talks with law enforcers is caused by fear of the consequences, human rights defenders have noted.

February 20, 2025 23:55

  • Zarema Musaeva's arrest extended

    A court in Grozny has extended Zarema Musaeva's arrest until March 26 under a criminal case on disrupting the work of a penal colony. Meanwhile, her sentence under the first criminal case was due to terminate on March 23, the "Team against Torture" (TaT)* has informed.

February 20, 2025 23:15

News archive
Пн
Вт
Ср
Чт
Пт
Сб
Вс
27
28
29
30
31
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
1
2