Rufat Safarov complains about illegal detention in Baku

On February 18, Rufat Safarov, a former investigator of the Azerbaijani Prosecutor's Office (PO), was taken to one of the divisions of some power structure, where he was demanded to stop criticizing the authorities in social networks.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on September 8, 2016, Rufat Safarov, a former investigator of the Zerdab District PO, was sentenced to nine years in prison on charges of a repeated receiving a bribe. Safarov refused to plead guilty, stating the political nature of the case against him. In March 2019, he was pardoned.

On February 18, Safarov was detained near his home. "I was detained near my home, when I was walking with my nephew. Three people in plainclothes approached us; they grabbed me in the eyes of my 12-year-old nephew, and put me into the waiting car," Safarov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

"At police, they took me to the head of the division. He demanded from me to stop 'bad texts and speeches', and if I 'failed to make conclusions,' he threatened to take 'tougher measures.' He meant my Facebook posts criticizing the falsification of parliamentary elections," said Safarov.

In his opinion, this detention was "not only illegal, but also immoral." "They scared the boy, my nephew. They failed to explain the reasons for the detention, and didn't allow me to call my relatives," Mr Safarov has stated, adding that he was released late in the evening of February 18.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 19, 2020 at 11:36 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.