13:59, 16 May 2019

Azerbaijani oppositionists turn payment of fine into protest action

Giyas Ibragimov and Bairam Mamedov, activists of the movement "Nida". Photo: screenshot of Samir AsadLi's page on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/samirasadli?__tn__=%2Cd*F*F-R&eid=ARDJLiwkTgfARNF6rdOy_m92mCY3RsJPtoHkz3NhNWr9mXYhPxShguuOFC1IFJnERc2wpENqENKR2xN4&tn-str=*F

Giyas Ibragimov and Bairam Mamedov, activists of the movement "Nida", used coins of the lowest value to pay the fines imposed on them by the court. The activists brought a bag of small coins to the bank. According to the activists, by their action, they wanted to draw public attention to the meanness of civil servants who imposed fines on activists.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in 2016, Bairam Mamedov and Giyas Ibragimov were sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment on the charges of drug trafficking. They were pardoned in March 2019.

On March 30, Bairam Mamedov was arrested for 30 days on the charge of disobedience to the police. After their release from prison, the activists were denied the opportunity to continue their studies at the Baku Slavic University.

Although the activists consider the court's decision on fines as illegal, they decided to pay the costs of the trial examination and turned the payment of the fine in the amount of 73 manats (43 US dollars) into the action "The Five-Penny State".

"We responded to the officials' penny wise actions by making payments in small coins," Bairam Mamedov explained.

"In fact, we brought a bag with about 5000 coins. A lot of people supported our action and expressed their solidarity. Giyas and Bairam are pardoned, and that means no money should have been collected from them," reported Samir Asadli, a coordinator of the movement "Nida".

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on May 16, 2019 at 01:38 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Author: Faik Medjid

Source: CK correspondent