Co-founder of new political platform in Azerbaijan arrested
Political arrests in Azerbaijan
Co-founder of the “Third Republic” platform in Azerbaijan, Araz Aliyev, was subjected to physical violence during detention, according to his lawyer. The activist has been charged with petty hooliganism and detained for 25 days under administrative procedures.
Before this news emerged, family and friends had been desperately looking for him for two days as Araz Aliyev disappeared on Saturday evening.
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Araz Aliyev disappeared on December 23 in the evening. Despite numerous appeals of his relatives and his lawyer, the law enforcement agencies did not inform about the whereabouts of the activist. Only a day later, on December 24, he appeared in court and was arrested for 25 days under Articles 510 (petty hooliganism) and 535.1 (disobeying the police) of the Code of Administrative Offenses.
According to the official accusation, Araz Aliyev swore foul language in a public place, and when a police officer gave him a warning, he did not obey.
And according to lawyer Nemat Kerimli, Aliyev was grabbed on the street by persons in civilian clothes and forcibly put into a car, hitting him. The activist was taken to the 24th branch of Nizami District Police Department. There his laptop was taken away from him. After that, a report was drawn up against him that he allegedly “expressed foul language” and “disobeyed the police”.
The lawyer also said that he would file an appeal against the arrest and a complaint to the prosecutor’s office about the use of physical pressure on Aliev.
Aliyev’s wife, Gulara Ismailova, in turn, reported that pressure was also exerted on her. She was detained on December 24, when she held a solitary protest in front of the Interior Ministry building, demanding clarification of the fate of her husband, who had disappeared since the evening of December 23.
She was taken to the 9th police station. Ismailova said one of the officers recognized her as a gender activist and threatened to arrest her if he saw her at the protests.
Araz Aliyev is also a member of the NIDA movement, and a professor of philosophy at Baku State University.
On the day of Araz Aliyev’s disappearance, Akif Gurbanov, another co-founder of the Third Republic platform, also reported that he was being pursued.
“Near the cafe where I was on Saturday evening, operatives appeared. They ostentatiously made their presence known,” Gurbanov said.
After Gurbanov made it public, activists, journalists and lawyers arrived at the cafe where he was. With their appearance, the operatives disappeared from view. Accompanied by the people who arrived, Gurbanov went home.
“Obviously, all this is related to our attempts to lead the country out of darkness. Apparently the creation of the Third Republic platform has seriously alarmed the regime. For we want to turn the governed society in Azerbaijan into a self-governing society. Our main slogan is that we obey not one person, but the right,” Gurbanov said.
A group of socio-political activists announced the establishment of the platform on December 7. The goal of the structure is to establish a true republican system in Azerbaijan. “The Third Republic” declared the need to achieve the rejection of authoritarianism in Azerbaijan, transition to a parliamentary republic and real democracy.
In the founding documents of this political platform it is noted that with the coming to power of Heydar Aliyev in 1993, the decline of the Second Republic began and the regime of authoritarianism was established. The Third Republic should return Azerbaijan to the bosom of democracy.
Political and public activists Akif Gurbanov, Araz Aliyev, Elman Fattah, Rovshan Agayev, Ruslan Izzetli, Samed Rahimli and Yadigar Sadigli were included in the working composition of the Platform.
Akif Gurbanov was elected as the head of the working staff for 1 year.
The “Third Republic” platform issued a statement on the arrest of Araz Aliyev.
“Azerbaijan’s law enforcement agencies, accustomed to governing with strict authoritarian rules, have for years made a habit of arresting critics of the Aliyev government through kidnapping. There is no doubt that Araz Aliyev has also become a victim of such a kidnapping,” the statement noted.
The statement also said that detaining Araz Aliyev without allowing him access to his relatives and an independent lawyer constitutes incommunicado detention, which is strictly prohibited under international human rights law.
“Such arrests are a gross and arbitrary violation of people’s right to liberty. At the same time, we state that the arrest of Araz Aliyev is clearly politically motivated and the government of Azerbaijan has an international legal obligation to stop politically motivated arrests…
We demand from the government the immediate release of our member Araz Aliyev, as well as all arrested journalists and socio-political activists to stop the wave of repression that has intensified in recent days!
At the same time, we appeal to the entire Azerbaijani public indifferent to the lawlessness and arrests of innocent people taking place in the country.
We call for action to protect human rights, especially to save the country from authoritarian rule!” – the statement reads.
