Azerbaijani activist Ragimova charged with slander

In Baku, a court has begun considering a complaint filed by a policeman, who considered a post left on a social media outlet by Gyulnara Ragimova, an activist of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), to be slander and an insult. A case against Gyulnara Ragimova has been ordered, states Ibragim Mamed, the adviser to the leader of the PFPA.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that Seimur Imanov complained about a post on Facebook*. Gyulnara Ragimova posted a photo of the policeman and wrote that she had seen him beating Aziz Mamiev, an activist of the “Musavat” Party, at a protest action on July 20. Gyulnara Ragimova faces up to three years of imprisonment under one article and up to six months of imprisonment under another article of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan.

The activist does not consider herself guilty. “My post contained no assessments, but a statement of fact. Using some people, they made it clear to me that a criminal case was instituted against me to force me not to attend protest actions. However, I cannot be intimidated by such methods,” Gyulnara Ragimova said.

According to her, another goal of the criminal case is “the authorities’ protection of the police,” aimed to ensure that employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) “serve the regime and are not afraid of criticism.”

Ibragim Mamed, the adviser to the leader of the PFPA, pointed out the inconsistency of the accusation. He believes that the case against Gyulnara Ragimova is of intimidating nature.

“His goal is to stop the public censure of the police for dispersing rallies,” Ibragim Mamed said.

* On March 21, the Tverskoi Court of Moscow banned the activities in Russia of the Meta Company, owning Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, in connection with extremist activities.