"Muslim Unity" activist complains about law enforcers' pressure

Khalig Siyabov, an activist of the "Muslim Unity" movement, told about his beating up after detention and linked the pressure exerted on him by law enforcers with the movement leaders' call to boycott the presidential election.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the presidential election in Azerbaijan was scheduled for October 17, 2018. However, on February 5, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev appointed early elections on April 11, without presenting any reasons for the move. The opposition criticized this decision, explaining it by authorities' desire "to ease falsifications and not to allow the opposition to get properly prepared."

Khalig Siyabov was detained on March 27 and taken to one of the subdivisions of law enforcement structures.

"Yesterday [on March 27], I was to meet another member of our movement. About noon I went out of my home; and they immediately grabbed me. For the whole day my relatives and our activists could not detect my whereabouts; and all the time I was under pressure. They beat me up and told openly that I had been detained because of my participation in the March 26 meeting of rights defenders with family members of the arrested activists of the 'Muslim Unity' movement and other believers," Mr Siyabov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent today, adding that he was released only at 9:00 p.m. on March 27.

He has associated his detention and beatings with the fact that it was he who had voiced out the statement of the imprisoned leaders of the "Muslim Unity" about boycotting the presidential election. "Law enforcers warned me that if we hold such a meeting again, the consequences for us would be bad," the activist has added.

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