Graphic designer from Baku detained for satirical clip about policemen

Law enforcers have detained Rasul Gasan, a graphic designer, and forced him to remove from social networks his satirical clip, in which the policemen standing in a cordon during a protest rally against election frauds are dancing a folk dance.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on February 16, police detained dozens of people in Baku, who protested against falsifications of the outcomes of parliamentary elections. Policemen used force during detentions, activists claimed. The detainees were taken far away from the country's capital and released there.

Rasul Gasan, a graphic designer from Baku, was detained by law enforcers around 11:00 a.m. local time on February 18. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told about it by his father, Elshan Gasanov.

"In the morning, Rasul and his wife left for work in a taxi. When he got out of the taxi, people in civilian clothes approached him and demanded to follow them. He was brought to the Chief Directorate for Combating Organized Crime of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA). There, they asked Rasul why he adhered to oppositional viewpoints. Then, he was forced to remove the video clip he had prepared (about a policeman). Besides, he was warned that if he made his detention public, 'more serious measures' would be taken against him," Mr Gasanov has stated.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 19, 2020 at 06:20 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.