An oppositional journalist who called to a meeting via "Facebook" summoned to the police in Sumgait

On February, 9, Elchin Gasanov, one more of the activists of the party People's Front of Azerbaijan (PPFA), reporter of "Yukselish Namine" ("For the Sake of Revival") was summoned to the police department of Sumgait.

Azer Jahangirov, Deputy Chief of the municipal police department, talked to him in the office. Gasanov himself said that Deputy Chief of the police declared that Gasanov was summoned in connection with his call for the citizens to take part in mass actions with the demand to release Jabbar Savalan, his formerly arrested colleague from PPFA.

Deputy Chief of Sumgait police Jahangirov confirmed Gasanov's summons to the police department. However, he did not comment on the reason of the summons: "He has already left. We only wanted to clarify one question. He got no warnings from us. You better ask him personally", Azerbaijani service of "Radio Svoboda" quotes Jahangirov.

Gasanov said that Deputy Chief of the police demanded that he should "disclaim his call for the meeting and never do such things again". Gasanov considered this short comment enough explaining that "the incident is already over".

In the opinion of Rasul Jafarov, lawyer of the Institute of Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS), there is nothing unlawful in a call for a meeting on the Net. The Constitution of Azerbaijan guarantees freedom of meetings, Jafarov emphasized and estimated the incident as a "limitation of freedom of expression one's ideas".

It should be reminded that Anar Gasimov, Jabbar Savalan's attorney, has submitted a complaint concerning the youth activist's arrest. An expertise has been appointed to establish if Savalan had used drugs and whether the substance found at his home was a drug or not. However, the attorney disbelieves that the expert opinion will be impartial and therefore has solicited for carrying out alternative expertises.

The police of Sumgait which is investigating the case refuses to produce comments referring to "investigation's secrecy".

Committee of protection of Savalan's rights has appealed to Matthew Bryza, new US Ambassador in Azerbaijan, asking him to raise the question of this oppositionist's fate during the procedure of delivery of his credentials to President Ilham Aliev. The authors of the appeal estimate Savalan's arrest as an "intimidation of democratically orientated youth and suppression of their critical opinion". "We ask you to call the Azerbaijani authorities for tolerance in situations like this", the statement runs.