Former deputy, mentioned as "organizer" of protests in Soyudlu, arrested
Arrest in Soyudlu
Nazim Beydemirli, a former member of the Azerbaijani parliament, has been arrested on charges of extortion. He told his lawyer that the accusation against him was fabricated and related to events in Soyuldu of Gadabay region. Earlier in the pro-government media there was a series of articles in which he and several other oppositionists were accused of organizing protests in Soyudlu.
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On July 5, the Narimanov District Court of the city of Baku chose Nazim Beydemirli, a former deputy, businessman and social activist, as a preventive measure in the form of imprisonment for four months duration the investigation, as announced by his lawyer Agil Laij.
According to him, charges were brought against Beydemirli under Art. 182.2.4 (extortion through threats committed with the aim of embezzlement of property in a significant amount) of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan. The former deputy pleads not guilty and intends to file an appeal.
Beidemirli was arrested on July 4. After the arrest, he called his lawyer and said it was in connection with the unrest in the village of Soyudlu.
The ex-deputy confirmed statements from local residents about the harmful effects on human health and the environment of the activities of a gold mining enterprise located in the village.
Local residents have been protesting since June 21-22. They oppose the construction of a new artificial lake to discharge sewage from the nearby Gadabay gold mine.
According to the villagers, the environment has been seriously affected after many years of operation of the gold mine. The air is polluted with cyanide gas, which is harmful to public health. Villagers say the construction of a second artificial lake for pasture toxic waste will further aggravate the situation.
Police used rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse a protest rally by residents of the village of Soyudlu. According to them, about 10 residents were injured during the clash.
On June 22, access to the village was closed by the police. Approximately 10 residents have been arrested, and relatives say they cannot contact them and do not know where they are being held.
In Baku, two activists, Giyas Ibrahimov and Elmir Abbasov, who harshly criticized the authorities for these events on social networks, were arrested.
“The arrest of Nazim Beydemirli has political motives,” Rufat Safarov, executive director of the human rights organization Line of Defense, told Turan:
“In fact, we already had concerns about the possible arrest of Nazim Beydemirli. For a few days ago, a number of pro-government media launched a slanderous campaign against him, presenting him as the “organizer” of the protests in the village of Soyudlu.”
Safarov considers the accusation against Beydemirli to be fabricated:
“I believe that in reality the arrest of Nazim Beydemirli is connected with his public activities.”
“The detention of the former Azerbaijani parliamentarian Nazim Beydemirli on suspicion of extortion is absolutely absurd. There is no doubt that he was detained due to his principled position in connection with the unrest in the village of Soyudlu and, in particular, his statements about the validity of the demands of local residents,” Jamil Hasanli, chairman of the National Council of Democratic Forces, wrote on his Facebook page.
“Nazim Beydemirli is one of the representatives of the intelligentsia who are natives of the Gadabay region … He spoke about the dangerous consequences of an artificial reservoir created to dump the cyanide produced at the enterprise. He spoke about the history of the creation of this plant,” Hasanli said.
The politician considers the police allegations that Beydemirli “blackmailed” and “extorted money” from someone are ridiculous.
“Nazim Beidemirli is a very cultured, morally healthy person, an intellectual, a representative of the patriotic intelligentsia. We worked with him for five years in the Milli Majlis. He is a person who puts the interests of the country and the people above all else, treats voters and the entire nation with care,” Hasanli said.
He believes that the report of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which “discredits” the good name of Beydemirli, about allegedly committing “dirty deeds” by him, is aimed at discrediting him in order to deprive him of public support.
In pro-government media reports, along with Beydemirli, former political prisoner Saleh Rustamli, who was the head of the Gadabay district executive power during the years of the national front, as well as his 17-year-old son, activist Sezgin Rustamli, were accused of organizing protests in Soyudlu.
“They blame me and my minor son. I would like to state that I have nothing to do with the events in Soyudlu. Like everyone else, I also received information about what happened from the media. But they represent the organization of the villagers as a crime. What’s wrong with the villagers getting together and talking about their problems?! I don’t care that my name is associated with these events. I only declare that I did not know anything about the protests, I learned, like everyone else, from the Internet,” Saleh Rustamli told Toplum TV.
