Opposition activist claims unjustified ban on leaving Azerbaijan

Azad Gasanov, an activist of the "Musavat" Party, has complained that he could not go to Lithuania to his family because of the ban on leaving Azerbaijan. He has stated that there are no legal grounds for such a ban, since the term of his criminal sentence and the restrictions associated therewith had expired.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Azad Gasanov, a political emigrant, was arrested on October 12, 2018, the day after returning to Azerbaijan from Lithuania. The oppositionist has stated that he had confessed to drug dealing under threat of torture. In August 2019, Gasanov was sentenced to a year in prison. The judge ruled to include the 10 months already spent in custody into his prison term.

Azad Gasanov has informed that on July 24 he was not allowed to fly to Lithuania because of the imposed ban on leaving Azerbaijan.

"In October (2019), my criminal sentence expired completely; and in April 2020, the trial period appointed by the court also ended. I have my family in Lithuania, and upon the expiry of all the restrictive periods I had planned to return there. However, on July 24, border guards detained me at the airport. They told me that the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) had introduced the travel ban," Azad Gasanov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, adding that he has sent an electronic application to the MIA asking for clarifications.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 22, 2020 at 02:35 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.