Azerbaijani "Nida" activists tell the court about power agents' pressure

At the trial in Baku of activists of the "Nida" Movement, Shakheen Novruzlu, one of the defendants, said that in the first days after detention he was subjected to physical and psychological pressure in the Ministry of National Security (MNS). Another defendant – Bakhtiyar Guliev also spoke about beatings at the police.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that initially the activists had been accused of possession of narcotic drugs and explosives. On September 12, 2013, all of them were charged anew – with organizing mass riots.

At the court session, Novruzlu stated that drugs and "Molotov cocktails" were planted into his house by MNS agents.

In his turn, Bakhtiyar Guliev, has rejected the accusations of preparing mass riots during the protest action against non-combat losses in the army on March 10, 2013. Guliev said that he gave his first confessions "under great physical and psychological pressure" and "slandered another defendant Rashad Gasanov."

Samir Kazymly, a coordinator of the Alliance of Political Freedoms, who overseer the trial, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that he is more and more confident that the charges had been falsified.

"It turns out that the story about 'Molotov cocktails' is a fruit of imagination of law enforcers. They conducted surveillance of youth activists' correspondence, and then used their statements and opinions on social networks to cook a far-fetched criminal case," said Kazymly.