Another participant of non-sanctioned believers' action arrested in Baku

On February 23, Bilal Ahmedov became the fifth arrested participant of the non-sanctioned march of believers and clashes with the police on February 13. He faced charges under Article 221.3 ("Hooliganism with use of arms or other objects") and Article 315.2 ("Rendering resistance to power officials") of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan.

The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told at the Yasamal District Prosecutor's Office that the operative-search actions are undertaken towards establishing and brining to responsibility of other persons, who had broken the public order.

Earlier, Elmar Samedov, Elchin Abbasov, Seimur Guseinov and Agali Mamedov were arrested for participation in the non-sanctioned action and faced similar charges. In case they are found guilty, they will be under threat of imprisonment for up to 7 years.

On February 23, the detainees were visited by human rights defender Chingiz Ganizade. "I met each of them separately. No violence was applied against them after detention and delivery to the police station," Mr Ganizade said in his conversation with the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

In the meantime, activists of the pro-Islamic political parties have set up a committee in defence of the rights of the detainees. "We find the arrests illegal and will fight for release of the believers; a respective appeal will be addressed to the international community," said Akif Geidarli, press secretary of the Islamic Party of Azerbaijan (IPA) and a member of the committee.