Activists demand to seize old building in Baku centre from its owner

Activists seeking the protection status for the former Molokan prayer house in the centre of Baku demanded to seize the building from the owner to prevent the demolition of the house. About 200 people are on duty around the clock. They seek guarantees from the authorities.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that starting May 6, local residents organized a round-the-clock watch at a building in central Baku after the owner's attempt to evict the non-commercial movie theatre "Salaam Cinema".

On May 8, members of the "Salaam Cinema" were invited to the Youth Foundation of Azerbaijan, where they were promised that the building would not be demolished. According to officials, the question of assigning the building the status of a historical monument will be resolved within two months, and during all the time the informal cinema can continue to work.

Nevertheless, the activists decided not to stop their round-the-clock duty until the building is assigned the protection status to prevent its demolition. In the evenings, the activists were holding improvised concerts and other events, and city residents were bringing them food and water, the "JAMnews" reported on May 10.

The building is guarded by 200 activists. They say they will agree to leave it only if the building is seized from an entrepreneur whom the young people consider to be the formal owner. The true owner intends to demolish the house in order to build a commercial building in its place, the activists believe.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on May 11, 2019 at 11:30 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.