Oppositionist's beaten relatives are rejected medical help in Nakhichevan, human rights defenders say

On December 10, in the village of Pusyan, the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic (NAR), policemen beat relatives of Sakhavat Aliev, a former candidate for the Parliament of Azerbaijan from the 2nd Sharur Constituency; the relatives receive no medical assistance, human rights activists say. The authorities deny the fact of beating.

Certain persons in civilian clothes are controlling the entry to the village, do not allow to take the victims out for treatment and, at the same time, prevent outsiders from getting to Pusyan; however today a group of rights defenders - employees of the Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS) Rasul Djafarov, Elman Mamedov, Khakimeldost Mekhtiev and the head of the Resource Centre for Democracy and NGOs Malakhat Nasibova - managed to get into the village and visit Sakhavat Aliev's relatives.

Earlier, the press service of the "Musavat" Party had reported that on December 10 (the International Human Rights Day) about 30 policemen, headed by Mamed Guseinov, head of the Sharur District Police Division, broke into the house of Pusyan villager Chapai Aliev, a brother of the former candidate for Deputy Sakhavat Aliev.

The policemen, as reported by the opposition, ransacked the house and beat Chapai Aliev, his sister Rakhshanda Tagieva, her husband Bairam Tagiev, and the householder's cousins Balakhanym and Gular Alieva. Then, the policemen used a bulldozer to demolish the store belonging to Chapai Aliev.

The latter, his sister Tagieva and her husband received serious injuries.

The day before, on December 9, Sakhavat Aliev held a press conference in Baku, where he told about the lawlessness dominated in the NAR, vote-rigging and harassment of his relatives in the Sharur District. Immediately after the elections, on November 14, another Sakhavat's brother - Sakhib Aliev - was detained and kept - without any court ruling - for 7 days in custody.

The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told by Malakhat Nasibova, head of the Resource Centre for Democracy and NGOs, that the health condition of the beaten relatives remains grave. Thus, Chapai Aliev, Sakhavat's brother lost vision in one eye. "He can't get out of bed because of severe injuries and brain concussion," she said.

Sakhavat's sister and wife - Gyulyara Alieva and Rakhshanda Tagieva - have confirmed that they had been beaten by local policemen and are still denied medical aid. They intend to go on a hunger strike in protest against authorities' actions.

Human rights activists were blocked in the village by a large group of persons in civilian clothes. "When leaving the village, these persons stopped our car and wanted to take us out. However, our driver pulled up and managed to bypass them," said Nasibova. The same persons are not letting the group of representatives of international organizations, who came from Baku, into Pusyan village.

The NAR's authorities refuse to comment on the situation around the Pusyan. The republic has established practice, when state officials refuse to communicate with independent journalists from Baku. At the same time, the NAR's permanent representative office in Baku issued a statement refuting any information about persecution of the family of the oppositionist Sakhavat Aliev.

According to authorities, the following happened: Chapai Aliev was using his barn as a shop "without a license." When he was told that he was trading illegally, "Chapai Aliev began insulting respective officials," the official release says. Other officials arrived in the village to consider the conflict in situ, but they were met with threats and stoned by the members of the Aliev family.

"To restore the order, policemen came to the place, who fulfilled the task and allowed the employees of official bodies to carry out their mission," says the official release of the NAR's representative office. Any facts of beating Sakhavat Aliev's relatives are rejected.

Meanwhile, Azerbaijani Ombudsperson Elmira Suleimanova has addressed Interior Ministers of Azerbaijan and the NAR in the context of Sakhavat Aliev's complaint against detention of his brother Sabit by Sharur police for 7 days and beating of his other relatives in Pusyan on December 10.

The Ombudsperson asked to investigate these facts, and should they get confirmed, to punish the perpetrators, and provide medical assistance to the victims. This was reported by Ms Suleimanova's office.

The press service of the Azerbaijani MIA refrained from comments, saying that the NAR has its own MIA.