In Azerbaijan, activist of "Kura" office accused of using force against public official

In Azerbaijan, Mirabad Rzaev, an activist of the civil society "Kura" from the village of Novruzlu of the Saatly District, face a charge under the Article "Use of force against a public official" (Article 315.1 of the Criminal Code).

On July 13, Mirabad Rzaev and his son Mirsalekh Rzaev were detained in the building of the Executive Administration of the Saatly District, where they came to file a complaint about delaying the restoration of their house, which was damaged by the devastating flooding on the Kura and Araz Rivers in spring-summer 2010.

Junior Rzaev was subjected to administrative arrest for 10 days. As far as Mirabad Rzaev is concerned, the Saatly District Court assigned a pre-trial restriction measure against him in the form of arrest for a period of 2 months. In the evening of July 16, he was brought to the Shuvelyan SIZO (pre-trial prison) in Baku.

Staff members of the headquarters of the civil society "Kura" are concerned over the fate of Mirabad Rzaev. According to Mekhman Aliev, a staff member of the "Kura" office, the family members of Mirabad and Mirsalekh Rzaev were not even informed of the proceedings against their relatives. Meanwhile, their rights were defended by a lawyer, appointed by the state. He and the court do not present to the family members of the arrested men the texts of the court's decisions to give them a chance to file appeals.

Within the next 1-2 days, the "Kura" office intends to hire an independent lawyer to protect the rights of Mirabad and Mirsalekh Rzaev.

The staff members of the "Kura" office believe that a provocation was arranged against Mirabad and Mirsalekh Rzaev and that they are being prosecuted just for the fact that they protest against the unlawful actions of local authorities and the Ministry for Emergencies (MfE).

Repressions in the flood area, which covers 8 districts of the Kura Lowland, were started in the beginning of this April. First, in the Sabirabad District, Oktai Gyulalyev, the coordinator of the "Kura" office was arrested, then, human rights defender Ilham Amiraslanov was arrested.

According to the "Kura" office, in the Sabirabad and Saatli Districts, the police regularly patrol the villages, and local activists are subjected to psychological pressure.

Thus, according to the activists, the authorities try to close the topic of elimination of the consequences of the flooding, despite the fact that many problems were not solved, although the state had allocated more than 1.5 billion US dollars for that purpose. The staff members of the "Kura" office claim the numerous facts of corruption in effecting payments of compensation, construction of houses, infrastructure, and shore protection works.

On Monday, July 16, more than 100 residents of a number of villages of the Sabirabad District came to the Executive District Administration to express their discontent with the recent payments of compensations. Last week launched payments of compensations in the amount of 6000 manats (more than 7200 US dollars) to every family in need of thorough restoration of housing, then, the amount was reduced to 4000 manats (more than 4800 US dollars), and after that, payments of compensations were completely suspended. Nazim Ismailov, Chief of the Executive District Administration, refused to meet the complainants, and they were met and forced back by the police, the agency "Turan" reports.

Officials from the Executive Administration of the Saatly District refused to comment on the arrest of Mirabad and Mirsalekh Rzaev, referring to the fact that it was an issue in competence of law enforcement agencies.

Officers from the District Police Division stated that the District Prosecutor's Office conducted the investigation. In their turn, officials from the Prosecutor's Office said that they had no such case in consideration.