Baku: two oppositionists sentenced to three days in jail

Today, the Sabail District Court of the city of Baku sentenced Tural Gadjibeili and Amid Suleimanov, two young activists of the opposition "Musavat" Party, to three days of administrative arrest.

Judge Fuad Guseinov found them guilty under Article 310 (disobedience to police) and Article 267 (minor hooliganism) of the Administrative Code. According to the press officer of the "Musavat" Party, the young men were detained in the evening on January 31 in the centre of Baku and brought to the 9th Division of the Sabail District Police Department.

Members of the "Musavat" Party believe that Gadjibeili and Suleimanov were punished for political reasons and, in particular, for their participation in the opposition rally held on January 31 in the village of Novkhany near Baku.

The rally was held to mark the 128th anniversary of the birth of Mamed Emmin Rasulzade, one of the founders of the Azerbaijani Democratic Republic, at his monument in his native village of Novkhany. The rally was attended by several hundred people, and anti-government slogans were voiced there.

However, the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) denied the political grounds for the arrests of the activists. A MIA's staff member said that the young people behaved noisily near the Iranian Embassy and tried to break a street lamp on a pole.