Police break up protest in front of Russian embassy in Baku

Russian embassy protest in Baku

Today, on April 12, activists of the opposition Democracy and Welfare Party held a protest against the Russian aggression in Ukraine in front of the Russian embassy in Baku. However, police who were mobilized at the rally did not allow the protesters to approach the building of the diplomatic corps, explaining this by the fact that the action was not coordinated with the authorities.

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Participants of the protest action against Russian aggression in Ukraine were holding posters with the inscriptions “Stop Russian aggression”, “Down with Putin”, “Bucha, Irpin, Gostomel are the continuation of the Khojaly genocide”, etc.

But shortly before the participants approached the embassy building, police officers began to push them away and escorted the oppositionists for several hundred meters.

Law enforcement officers took the posters out of the hands of the protesters and tore them up. As a result of police attacks on protesters, journalist Ulviyya Ali lost her balance and fell.

Rally organizer’s comment

“The protest of the Party of Democracy and Welfare in front of the Russian embassy in Baku can be considered complete.

As about 50 party members approached the embassy building, hundreds of police surrounded the building and prevented them from approaching the planned protest site.

The protesters chanted the slogans “Stop the war in Ukraine”, “No to war crimes”, “Down with Putin”, “Putin is a war criminal”, “Russian army, which committed the massacre of civilians in Bucha, cannot be a peacekeeper in Karabakh”, “ Russian army, get out of Karabakh”.

The police intervened and took away the banners with slogans from the participants, but no cases of physical violence against the protesters were recorded. This is the first information about the protest. This shows that the political leadership and the police regime of Azerbaijan demonstrate their loyalty to Putin to the end”, Gubad Ibadoglu, chairman of the Democracy and Prosperity Party, organizer of the action, wrote on his Facebook page.