In Azerbaijan, NGOs suspend their activities because of arrests of their accounts

In Azerbaijan, independent institutions of civil society are facing problems in carrying out their activities in connection with the arrests of their accounts and inspections conducted by law enforcement and tax authorities, activists of several NGOs told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

"In fact, these measures deprive us of the opportunity to work. NGOs can hardly be active without bank operations. Our projects are suspended, and we don't know how long it will continue," said Emin Guseinov, Director of the Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS).

In its turn, the NGO "Resource Centre for Democracy and Human Rights" has gone to the court against the Prosecutor's Office; however, the complaint was dismissed, said Asabali Mustafaev, the head of the Centre.

Another NGO leader, who preferred to remain anonymous, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that in total, accounts of more than 20 NGOs were arrested in Azerbaijan.

According to the source, the purpose of the authorities' campaign against independent NGOs is to "deprive them of grants from Western donors." The source believes the authorities want to "completely root out the civil society in Azerbaijan."

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.