Azerbaijani oppositionist arrested for 25 days on unknown charges

Huseyn Melik, an activist of the opposition Movement for Democracy and Prosperity (BCH) party, received 25 days of administrative detention. What exactly he has been accused of is unknown. The BCH believes that Melik may have been arrested because he criticized the authorities on social networks.

The BCH was created in 2014 by activists who left the Musavat opposition party. Melik is one of the movement’s most active participants.

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Details regarding his arrest

According to the deputy chairman of the Children’s Security Council, Ellada Mamedli, on 5 December people in civilian clothes broke into Huseyn Melik’s apartment, handcuffed him and took him away. On 6 December his coworkers learned about the sentence that had been handed down to him. They regard this as an abduction:

“We are more than convinced that Hussein Melik was arrested for his critical posts on Facebook. It was not by chance that, after his arrest, his posts were removed. Perhaps he was pressured,” says BCH leader Gubad Ibadoglu.

Neither the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs nor the Sabail district court has commented on the arrest.

Other similar cases also appeared in Azerbaijan over the past month. In mid-November, Ali Kerimli, leader of the opposition Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), was sentenced to pay an administrative fine. After, at the end of November, journalist Afgan Sadigov received 30 days of administrative arrest.