Azerbaijani activist Ilkin Rustamzade becomes laureate of "Republican of the Year Award"

Activist Ilkin Rustamzade, who is serving his sentence, has been granted the "Republican of the Year Award", awarded by the civil movement "D18" on the occasion of the Republic Day celebrated in Azerbaijan on May 28.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on May 17, 2013, Ilkin Rustamzade was detained on suspicion of hooliganism, since investigators treated the dance flash mob "Harlem Shake" and the placement of the video in YouTube as disorderly conduct. After his arrest, the activist has announced his transfer to the movement "Nida".

"More than four years of imprisonment did not force the activist and blogger to give up his idea of fighting for democracy," emphasized Ruslan Izzetli, the leader of the civil movement "D18".

He has also noted that the human rights organization "Amnesty International" (AI) recognized Ilkin Rustamzade as a political prisoner.

Isa Gambar, the leader of the Centre for National Strategic Thought, has added that Ilkin Rustamzade and a group of other young people "were arrested only for conducting peaceful actions to protest against deaths of soldiers in non-combat conditions."

The diploma of the "Republican of the Year Award" was handed over to Atlas Guseinova, the mother of Ilkin Rustamzade.

Turgut Gambar, a member of the board of the movement "Nida", has called Ilkin Rustamzade "a worthy and highly intelligent person, a true champion of democracy."

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