Nakhichevan: police detain suspect of beating rights defender Nasibov, his wife reports

In Nakhichevan, policemen have detained a local resident on suspicion of beating human rights defender Ilgar Nasibov, stated Malakhat Nasibova, the wife of the beaten activist, with reference to a source in the local police.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on August 21, a group of unidentified persons attacked the office of the Resource Centre for NGO development and democracy. As a result of the incident, Ilgar Nasibov, a staff member of the Centre, was severely beaten. Malakhat Nasibova, the wife of Ilgar Nasibov and the Director of the Centre, associates the attack with the human rights activities of her husband.

Malakhat Nasibova knows the name of the person detained on suspicion of the attack on her husband. "This man recently used to come to the Resource Centre and pretended to be an ordinary visitor. In the evening of the incident, it was he who invited my husband to the Resource Centre and he was the first who struck him with a heavy object," Malakhat Nasibova has said.

Meanwhile, the British Embassy in Baku has appealed to the Azerbaijani authorities asking to investigate the incident.

Dunja Mijatovic, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, has also expressed her concern over the attack on Ilgar Nasibov. She urged the Azerbaijani authorities to conduct an immediate and thorough investigation into the incident.