Baku police break up rally in support of Mekhman Guseinov

Four journalists and other activists have been detained today in Baku for holding a rally in support of the blogger Mekhman Guseinov; the police stopped the action five minutes after the start thereof. Still, it was a success, as many passersby managed to pay attention to it, the participants of the event believe.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on December 26, the blogger Mekhman Guseinov announced a dry hunger strike in an Azerbaijani colony after he was made a figurant of a new criminal case initiated against him two months before the end of his prison term. On December 30, Guseinov, after being transferred to the SIZO (pre-trial prison), began drinking water.

The action in support of Mekhman Guseinov began at about 4:00 p.m. Baku time near the "Neftchilar" metro station in the Nizami District of Baku. The participants of the action chanted: "Freedom!", "Freedom to Mekhman!" and "Freedom to political prisoners!"

Five minutes after the start of the action, the police stopped it and began detaining its participants.

"Some 15-20 people participated in the action, including activists of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA). About 10 of them were detained; there are journalists among them," Ramin Deko, a freelance journalist, who was watching the protest action, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on January 3, 2019 at 05:12 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.