Police stop action held by family members of soldiers killed in Azerbaijan

The police stopped a rally held by family members of soldiers killed during the Karabakh conflict. Protesters are trying to get compensation from the authorities. The authorities claim that the money was paid back in the 1990s, but they don't provide any supporting documents, the protestors say.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in the spring, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev issued a resolution to pay compensation in the amount of 6450 US dollars to families of each soldier and officer killed or missing during the combat actions in 1991-1997. On November 6, a march took place in Baku, and its participants claimed they had been refused in compensation.

On December 11, family members of killed soldiers and officers again tried to gather in front of the presidential administration to express their demands, said Sevindj Guluzade, a participant of the action. According to her, people express their indignation about the actions of the police.

"Activist Togrul Godjaev was detained, forced into a car, and taken away. Later, it became known that the man, whose father had been killed in the war, was arrested," Sevindj Guluzade said.

Compensations were paid to successors of 1223 killed soldiers and officers, reported an officer from the press service of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Labour. In total, according to him, the compensations are due to successors of 9531 soldiers and officers.

Ogtai Gyulyalyev, a member of the NGO Coalition for Enhancing Transparency in the Extractive Industries, a coordinator of the Centre for the Protection of Political Prisoners, treats the position of the authorities towards the protesting family members of the war victims as unfair.