Authorities forbid Azeri activist to visit his arrested son

Information about the arrest of Rafael Guseinzade, detained after an action in support of political prisoners, became known to his relatives only on the fifth day after detention, his father, Fizuli Guseinov, an oppositionist, has stated.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on January 25, 2019, the police detained Rafael Guseinzade during his solo picket in central Baku. The activist stated that he came out to hold the picket after the Mayoralty refused to sanction a rally scheduled for January 26.

During his picket, Rafael Guseinzade held a poster reading: "Freedom for political prisoners!" and "Down with Ilham!" and containing a photo of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev with the inscription "Dictator" above the photo. Soon, he was detained by policemen.

Members of Raphael's family could find out his fate only on January 29. "All these days, no matter where I called, I couldn't find any data about my son's whereabouts. Due to my health problems, I couldn't go out. But on January 29, I managed to come to the detention centre," Fizuli Guseinov, Rafael's father and a member of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

The centre staff unofficially told him that his son was arrested for 30 days back on January 25, but did not let him to see Rafael.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on January 30, 2019 at 11:55 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.