Azerbaijan: ex-GPP complains of threats

Ali Omarov, the former General Public Prosecutor (GPP) of Azerbaijan, has stated today that he had received threats from a man, who introduced himself as a police officer. His statement will be investigated by law enforcement bodies, the local Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) reports.

On May 30, at 6:58 p.m., Omarov was called from a cell phone by an unidentified person, who said he was a police colonel and began insulting him, as Omarov himself told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. According to his story, the threats were related to his participation at the oppositional rally, held on the occasion of Republic Day on May 28 in the village of Novkhany.

"Be good; we'll disregard that you're a former GPP; same as the former Interior Minister Iskender Gamidov, we'll arrest you by putting a bag over your head. You'll be arrested; your family will be tortured; and a criminal case will be opened against your family members. What did you do at the oppositional rally in Novkhany? Stop all this!" Omarov quotes the caller.

Ali Omarov said that because of the threats he sent a cable to President Ilham Aliev and the Interior Minister Ramil Usubov; he called the on duty service of the MIA and addressed the US Embassy to Azerbaijan.

According to his story, the current technology level allows finding the caller quite easily, especially since he called from an open number. "If this is not done, it means that the authorities themselves are behind the threats," said the former GPP.

An attempt of the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent to call the number of the Omarov's caller failed - the phone was off or out of the cellular coverage.

The press service of the MIA said in its comment on the Omarov's statement that they did not believe in the possibility of threats pronounced by a police colonel; however, they promised to deal with the situation.