Unrests in Northern Azerbaijan step down; journalist was wounded

The situation in the city of Guba in the north of Azerbaijan has normalized after release of all the people detained during spontaneous protest actions. In the course of the riots, Abderrashad Vagif-oglu, a reporter of the Internet TV "Objective TV", was wounded in his head by a stone.

22 persons were detained in the course of suppressing the riots. This led to still increased protests.

Vakhit Akhmedov, the MP from the Guba District, acted as a mediator in negotiations between the population and the authorities. He acquainted the protesters with the promise of the Minister of Internal Affairs to release all the detainees.

Residents of the city refused to disperse until the last detainee is released.

Akhmedov brought the remaining detainees and said that all people had been released. According to his story, Rauf Khabibov, the head of the district executive power, will be dismissed from his position.

The crowd took this news with joy; however, for a long time, people would not disperse, until they received Akhmedov's oral assurances that no one else would be detained or arrested for those events.

The spontaneous protesters told that they had been dissatisfied with the policy of local authorities. They complained about unemployment and poverty of people.

At the same time, in Baku Khabibov's dismissal was under debates. The information about possible dismissal of the head of the district was confirmed by an anonymous source. "Yes, the leadership discusses Khabibov's dismissal. I guess the dismissal will take place," the "Interfax" quoted the source.