Azerbaijani police refuse to investigate attack on independent election observer

Azerbaijani law enforcement agencies are trying to hush up the case of the attack on independent election observer Jale Bayramova because she tried to prevent election fraud, claim Bayramova herself and her father, opposition political Gubad Ibadoglu.

The woman who attacked Bayramova herself wrote a complaint against her, and the chairman of the central election commission, Mazahir Panahov, has also come out against Bayramova. 

• Everything about parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan in one minute

The attack 

Snap parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan took place on February 9.  

Once again, the ruling New Azerbaijan Party emerged the victor;  most independent local observers and international organizations say the elections were undemocratic and took place with many violations.

Jale Bayramova was a member of the precinct election commission in southern Azerbaijan.  

She filmed the process of issuing ballots on her phone, but the process was interrupted by a woman who was neither a voter, nor a member of the commission, nor an observer, and who had no right to be on the site. The woman threw Jale to the floor and severely beat her.  This was shot on video and the video made its way onto the Internet

According to Gubad Ibadoglu, a private clinic in Baku first recorded the injuries received by Jale, but then, under pressure from the authorities, they destroyed the document, reports the Caucasian Knot. 

“She is the one to blame”

Mazahir Panahov, head of the election commission, defends the woman who beat up Jale, stating the battered girl is herself to blame, she should not have videotaped that woman, and will be punished for it.

Legal expert Alesker Mammadli says that Jale had every right to film the events.

“According to the constitution, a citizen can object to being filmed without their consent.  But this applies to privacy. A polling station is a public place, and elections are a nationwide event,” he explains.

Mammadli believes that the video clip should have given the prosecutor every reason to launch criminal proceedings. 

The investigator looking into Bayramova’s complaint and the prosecutor general’s office declined to comment.