Azerbaijani activists kept in overcrowded cells, their defence reports

Opposition activists arrested in Baku are unreasonably accused of disobeying the police. This opinion has been voiced by an advocate who has visited them today. He has also reported on the poor conditions of detention for the activists.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on September 24, a member of the National Council of Democratic Forces (NCDF) reported that in total, more than 50 activists were detained before a rally, and seven of them were arrested.

Today, advocate Asafali Mustafaev has visited the detention facility, in which the arrested activists are being kept.

According to the advocate, all those activists were detained on the eve of the rally organized by the National Council of Democratic Forces.

"The accusations of committing administrative offenses have been fabricated, like it always happens in case of opposition activists. It turns out that on the same day, all of them walked the streets 'and used foul language, and when policemen called them to order, they ignored the policemen and were rude to them," stated Asafali Mustafaev.

Asafali Mustafaev has also pointed to the "bad" conditions in the detention facility. "The biggest problem of the Binagadi detention facility is overcrowded cells. Five persons are being kept in a double cell, while a six-person cell accommodates up to nine prisoners. This fact negatively affects other factors of the detention conditions, including food and sanitation. Prisoners have to sleep on the floor," the advocate reported.

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