Turkey extradites religious activist to Azerbaijan

Anar Djabbarov, an activist of the "Muslim Unity" Movement (MUM), detained in Turkey, was brought to Baku. Rights defenders associate the persecution of Djabbarov with the conflict in Nardaran.

Djabbarov was detained in Istanbul under the pretext of problems with documents, a MUM source told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, noting that Azerbaijan celebrated the Novruz Bayram until March 26; and they couldn't find an advocate for Djabbarov because of the days-off.

He explained that Djabbarov left the country in November 2015 due to arrests of MUM activists after the Nardaran events. Initially, he lived in Russia, and then moved to Turkey.

In the case of Djabbarov, the fact of violation of extradition procedures is obvious, Ogtai Gyulyalyev, the coordinator of the Centre for the Protection of Political Prisoners, believes.

"An extradition should be carried out exclusively by a court ruling with the right to appeal and the provision of advocates," he has explained.

"Without any court hearings, Djabbarov was extradited to Azerbaijani authorities. This is a violation of international norms," Elshan Gasanov, the coordinator of the Union for the Freedom of Political Prisoners of Azerbaijan, has added.