ReAl activists treat questioning at GPO as harassment

Today, Azer Gasymly and Erkin Gadirli, activists of the "Real Alternative" (ReAl) movement, were interrogated at the General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) of Azerbaijan. Members of the ReAl have treated the interrogations as pressure on the movement.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on January 27, the GPO's spokesman announced the start of the inquiry into the information presented in the article by Einulla Fatullayev "Ilgar Mamedov's Soldiers Move to Iran". The article said that during the visit of an official of the Iranian Embassy to the ReAl's headquarters on January 19, issues of political cooperation of the movement with Tehran were discussed. The article also told about the receipt by the ReAl "of financial aid from Iran.

Today, the Investigating Department on Grave Crimes of the GPO has questioned Erkin Gadirli, a board member of the ReAl.

According to his story, the interrogation lasted for more than two hours. "It had to do with the visit of an employee of the Iranian Embassy to the office of our movement on January 19. I was asked the same questions as the other participants of that meeting – Azer Gasymly and Natig Jafarli," Erkin Gadirli told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

In Mr Gadirli's opinion, the GPO's inquiry has no grounds. "It's clear that the assertions that we are financed by the Iranian Embassy are not serious. They just use it to press on us," he said.

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