Wife of political emigrant arrested in Azerbaijan banned from leaving country
Wife of political emigrant banned from leaving the country
The wife of political emigrant Anar Aliyev, who was arrested in Baku at the end of July after arriving from Germany, has been banned from leaving Azerbaijan. She has already challenged the travel ban in court. According to expert Namizad Safarov, according to Azerbaijani law, only those formally accused of something may be banned from leaving the country.
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Arrest of another political emigrant
Anara Aliyeva says that she, her husband Anar Aliyev, and their children arrived in Baku from Germany on July 8 to visit her husband’s ailing father. On August 4, they had return tickets in their hands.
But on July 25, Anar Aliyev was summoned to the police never returned home. Qccording to Anara Aliyeva, her husband was accused of drug smuggling. “They say they found drugs in his pants pockets. I ironed his pants that morning, here was nothing in his pockets,” the woman says. “Besides, not a single drug user will go to the police with drugs in his pocket,” adds Anara.
According to Anara, her husband was really arrested for participating in protests against human rights violations in Azerbaijan, held in Germany.
“One policeman in a conversation with me said that I should sign a paper where I allegedly confirm that my husband used drugs. I refused. Then they bargained with me, with Anar’s father and mother that if I return to Germany with the children, this story would not be made public. I had to go back, I have a job there, my children study. But it soon became clear that I was banned from leaving the country,” Anara Aliyeva writes on Facebook.
Travel ban challenged
Lawyer Elchin Sadigov filed a complaint with the Nizami District Court of Baku over the illegal ban on departure of the activist’s wife from the country, Turan reports.
“We applied to the court with a request to recognize the ban as illegal and rescind it,” Sadigov said, noting that Anara Aliyeva was not involved in the investigation in any capacity, as witness, victim, or suspect. Consideration of the complaint is scheduled for September 1.
Anara Aliyeva herself told Turan news agency that she was being blackmailed.
Anara says the police of the Nizami department urged her to denounce her husband and convince him to confess so that she be allowed to return to Germany.
“I categorically rejected such an illegal transaction. After that, they threatened to drag me into the case as a defendant,” Aliyeva said.
Expert opinion
Legal expert Namizad Safarov called Aliyeva’s travel ban unreasonable.
“A ban on leaving the country, according to the Code of Criminal Procedure, can only be imposed on those accused of a crime. None of the laws of Azerbaijan contain provisions on imposing travel restrictions on victims, witnesses or persons who may be involved as witnesses. At the same time, according to the Code of Criminal Procedure, family members of the accused cannot be called as witnesses to testify against them. This is contrary to the Constitution,” Safarov explained.
The head of the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Elshad Hajiyev, said that Anar Aliyev is being investigated on suspicion of committing a specific criminal act, and called Aliyeva’s statements “untrue”.
Wife of political emigrant banned from leaving the country
