Azerbaijani activist treats exclusion from municipal council as unjustified

Vafa Nagi, an activist, removed from work at the municipal council of the village of Khol Garagashly, intends to challenge this decision, treating it as biased and illegal. The Azerbaijani Central Election Commission (CEC) has pointed out the illegality of depriving members of the municipal council of their powers in the extrajudicial order.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that an official and an employee of the rural house of culture demanded to bring Ms Nagi to criminal responsibility for alleged defamation. They claimed that Nagi's Facebook posts had damaged their business reputation. Vafa Nagi herself has linked the lawsuit against her with her "corruption exposure" activities.

"I became a sort of a bone in the throat of Alibala Salimov, the head of the municipal council, because I demanded financial reporting and explanations about the illegal distribution of land plots," Ms Nagi has stated.

In his turn, Salimov has stated that Nagi was excluded from the municipal council "because she missed three council sittings in a row."

Mikail Ragimov, the CEC Secretary, has noted that a member of a body elected by the population cannot be deprived of his/her powers without a court decision. He has confirmed that the absence at sittings due to medical treatment is a valid reason.