Opposition condemns dispersal of a peaceful protest in Baku

The dispersal of a peaceful protest action violates the constitutional rights of citizens, human rights defenders point out.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that today, more than 20 people have been detained at a protest action, the participants of which demanded to open land borders. According to the police, the protestors were simply “removed from the area.”

In total, 35 people were detained during the protest action, including its organizer Tofig Yagublu, a member of the coordinating centre of the National Council of Democratic Forces (NCDF) and the “Musavat” Party, the human rights organization “Line of Defence” reported. The NGO also released a list with detainees’ names.

Said Bakuvi, a member of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), told the “Caucasian Knot” correspondent that he was taken to the 8th department of the Sabail police department. “They told me to write an explanatory note and then released me. The police identified all the detainees and then demanded explanatory notes from everyone. After that, all the detainees were released,” Said Bakuvi stated. The dispersal of the peaceful protest action was a gross violation of the constitutional freedoms of citizens, Tezekhan Miralamli says. “People have the right to peaceful protest and this is guaranteed by the Constitution,” he said.

Tofig Yagublu also condemned the actions of the authorities. “The authorities sent a large number of policemen to suppress the protest action. They are afraid of any protest of citizens, because they are not confident in themselves, they know that people do not support their policies,” Tofig Yagublu noted.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on July 20, 2022 at 04:56 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.