Law enforcers search apartment of mother of rights defender Gulnara Akhundova in Baku

On Thursday, in Baku, the apartment of Djavakhir Akhundova, the mother of rights activist Gulnara Akhundova, who is now living abroad, was searched. Prior to the search, Djavakhir was interrogated at the Investigating Department for Grave Crimes of the General Prosecutor's Office of Azerbaijan in relation to the criminal case initiated against a number of local and foreign NGOs.

According to Gyunay Ismayilova, a lawyer of the Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS) Djavakhir Akhundova was questioned as a witness in the above criminal case.

"During the search nothing interesting for the investigation was found," said Ismayilova.

While staying abroad since summer, Gulnara Akhundova continues protecting the freedom of expression in Azerbaijan. She was a speaker on October 2 in Strasbourg at the side event held in parallel to the PACE autumn session on the topic of "Unprecedented Repressions in Azerbaijan".

Her report was on violations of media and NGO rights, and of the fundamental freedoms of expression and assembly in Azerbaijan.

It is noteworthy that the interrogation and search of the rights defender's mother were held shortly after Rafael Guseinov, an Azerbaijani MP and a member of the country's delegation to the PACE, spoke out his accusations of betraying national interests.

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