In Baku, in the courtyard of one of the restaurants, a journalist of the opposition YouTube channel Avaz Hafizli was beaten up by security guards on duty who ended up breaking Hafizli’s arm.
On September 28, late in the evening, Avaz Hafizli, a journalist for the opposition Azerbaijani YouTube channel Kanal13, went to a restaurant located in the Binagadi district of Baku. According to Turan, a grand opening was held at this institution, which was attended by high-ranking officials.
According to Hafizli, who was filming there, the doors of the restaurant were closed and opened only after a phone call to the guards.
According to reports, the Deyirman restaurant, where the event was held, belongs to the head of the Yasamal district of Baku, Eldar Hasanov. The journalist asked the guards of the establishment about this and asked why ordinary visitors were not allowed inside.
From the video footage distributed on social media, one can see that after a short conversation, the security guard resorts to physical force against the journalist and the recording is interrupted.
Hafizli notes that physical violence was used against him before the command from the restaurant. “The security guards dragged the journalist into the fenced yard, next to the restaurant casino. They took away one phone, the journalist hid the second phone in advance. They warned that the phone would not be returned, they could give him an expensive iPhone instead. Then the journalist was offered a bribe, A. Hafizli did not agree to accept it and demanded to release him, and return his phone. Then the persuasion was replaced by threats to use a bottle and other means of violence used in the relevant circles”.
The journalist managed to call the police. A police squad arrived at the scene and took Hafizli and one of the restaurant employees to the police station. There, both sides gave written evidence.
This morning, Hafizli was diagnosed with a broken arm at the Institute of Traumatology, the doctors applied a plaster cast.
Avaz Hafizli is also known as an advocate for the rights of the LGBTQI + community. He recently held a solitary protest in front of the building of the General Prosecutor’s Office of Azerbaijan which JAMnews social media page was broadcasting live.
