Azerbaijan already has more than 1,000 cases – many continue to violate self-isolation requirements

Azerbaijan now has 1,058 cases of coronavirus infection as of the evening of April 11 reports the operational headquarters under the cabinet of ministers.

11 people have died, 200 have been discharged from the hospital.

The Cabinet of Ministers calls this level of infection and mortality low compared to other countries, but believes that the rules for self-isolation should be further tightened.

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At present, Azerbaijan has declared a strict quarantine regime – the metro, parks, squares, almost all commercial facilities, organizations and enterprises have been closed. 

To go out, you must either have a certificate of employment or receive SMS permission from the authorities, which is issued only once a day for two hours. People over 65 are generally not allowed to leave the house. Moreover, a state of emergency has not yet been declared, which beings into question the legality of these prohibitions.

Officials say citizens still do not want to stay at home, are violating the rules and going outside for unnecessary reasons despite the high fines (from $58) and even the threat of arrest.

On April 11, the police detained more than 3,000 violators. 27 of them were placed under administrative arrest, and one – under criminal.

Police officers are checking not only passers-by, but are getting on buses and asking passengers to show their permits. The witness of one such check was political observer of JAMnews Shahin Rzayev:

“I go by bus to Old Surahani [a suburban village near Baku]. The bus was stopped, police and soldiers of the internal troops came in from the front and back doors. 

“Salam alaikum!”, they say, “show your passes.”

I saw this once in my life, at the end of 1993, when the Karabakh war was going on. Then in minibuses such raids were organized and young children of draft age were sent straight from there to the front, not even allowed to say goodbye to their loved ones. 

This time, they took off two guys and one girl who did not have a permission SMS. “They released the girl for her beautiful eyes, and drove the guys into the car.”

Among the people arrested on charges of violating the quarantine regime, there are already several opposition members. 

On the evening of March 10, a resident of the city of Lankaran in the south of the country, who previously had problems with the authorities because of his critical Facebook posts, was arrested for 10 days under the same article. 

According to his mother, the young man named Nariman Abdullaev was taken by the police right from the house.