Fuad Abbasov voices out political reasons for his deportation

The Azerbaijani journalist, Fuad Abbasov, associates his persecution and deportation from Russia with political forces interested in the deterioration of Russian-Azerbaijani and Russian-Turkish relations.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on June 7, Fuad Abbasov was to be extradited from Russia to Azerbaijan, but on the same day he was placed in a temporary detention centre for foreigners located near Moscow. Abbasov had treated it as unjustified deprivation of freedom and declared a hunger strike, which he stopped on June 19 following doctors' recommendations. On June 25, Abbasov was deported to Baku.

He treats his deportation as illegal. "I intend to seek the cancellation of the deportation decision," Abbasov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

The journalist believes that he was arrested for countering violations of Azerbaijanis' rights. The aim of his arrest is to intimidate other people who try to defend the rights of Azerbaijanis living in Russia. Besides, Fuad Abbasov links his arrest with the efforts of political forces and lobbyists who are against the friendly relations of Russia with Azerbaijan and Turkey: according to his version, he was the voice of Azerbaijan and Turkey on Russian TV channels and in the Russian segment of the Internet.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on June 27, 2019 at 11:34 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.