23:30, 12 March 2009

NAGA President detained in Azerbaijan

On Tuesday, March 10, Dashgyn Gyulmamedov, President of the National Assembly of Georgian Azerbaijanis (NAGA) was arrested in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan.

The law enforcement bodies have reported that Gyulmamedov's detention was related to the criminal case on a swindle suspicion, initiated against him in December 2008.

The "Bakililar.Az" Agency reports that earlier Dashgyn Gyulmamedov was announced into search.

Meanwhile, the NAGA asserts that his detention was undertaken in accordance with "a secret plan of Azerbaijani government to suppress the movement of Azerbaijanis in Georgia," as the "Regnum" Agency reports.

It was already mentioned in the "Caucasian Knot" information that NAGA members and activists had repeatedly kept stating that the Azerbaijani Diaspora in Georgia is exposed to oppressions.

Back in May 2007, Dashgyn Gyulmamedov stated that murder cases of Azerbaijanis in Georgia were not disclosed, because "links from them could lead directly to Minister of Internal Affairs Vano Merabishvili and President Mikhail Saakashvili."