Opposition leader arrested in Baku

Azer Gasimli, a board member of the opposition Republican Alternative Party (REAL), has been arrested under the ‘Disobeying the Lawful Demands of the Police’ article, and will serve 30 days in prison. “According to the police, he was allegedly using foul language in the street,” Elchin Sadigov, his lawyer, reported to Contact.az.

According to the lawyer, Gasimli considers the real reason for his arrest on 28 May to be his participation in the procession in honor of the 100th anniversary of the First Republic of Azerbaijan. A peaceful procession organized by, among others, REAL, was stopped by a police cordon on the outskirts of the seaside boulevard in Baku.

Gasimov’s fellow party members believe that the authorities were threatened by the ‘demonstration’, even though it was peaceful and took place on a harmless occasion.

Gasimli’s lawyer is going to appeal.

Gasymly’s colleague in the party, Natik Jafarli, put forward his version of the reason for the arrest on one of his social network pages:

“This system does not tolerate positivity. A Festive atmosphere, smiling people and a protest electorate – all this is a very frightening picture for the system. And yesterday was just such a picture – a festive mood, creative youth, smiling potential protesters … In your opinion, could the government calmly digest this? Of course not.”

REAL is an unregistered opposition political party in Azerbaijan. Ilgar Mamedov, the leader of the party, is currently serving a prison sentence. In 2014 he was sentenced to seven years on charges of organizing events that ‘contribute to the violation of public order and resisting representatives of power’.

Ilgar Mammadov was recognized at the international level as a political prisoner, with human rights organizations repeatedly demanding his release.