In Azerbaijan, arrested activist of "Kura" headquarters claims being tortured at MIA

The Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of Azerbaijan exerts pressure on the staff of the "Kura" headquarters. This was stated by the organization's representatives at the roundtable in Baku. According to the representatives of the headquarters, criminal proceedings against Oktai Gyulalyev are being continued, and Ilham Amiraslanov was tortured at the police station.

On June 18, the roundtable was held by the "Kura" headquarters at the Media Centre of the Institute of Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS). The speakers stated that no pressure would stop the activists of the public organization and they would continue efforts to protect the rights of citizens, affected by devastating floods in May-June 2010 on the Kura and Araz Rivers in Azerbaijan, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

The participants of the roundtable reminded that criminal proceedings were instituted against Ilham Amiraslanov, the activist of the "Kura" headquarters in the Sabirabad Region, the head of the regional public association of social initiatives "Sarysu".

In the morning of June 8, Ilham Amiraslanov was detained near the village of Askerbeili, where he resides. On the same day, he was arrested on charges of illegal possession of arms and ammunition.

At the roundtable, his lawyer disseminated the text of the Ilham Amiraslanov's letter, addressed to Kyamal Gylydjev, Chief of the Department of the General Prosecutor's Office of Azerbaijan for supervision over investigations in the MIA, in which the activist complained about torture and inhuman treatment.

In his complaint, Ilham Amiraslanov reports that he was detained on June 8 near the village of Askerbeili of the Sabairabad District, when he returned home from a pharmacy. According to Ilham Amiraslanov, he was attacked by several staff members of the district police and the Chief Directorate for Combating Organized Crime of the MIA. Policemen put a green bag on Ilham Amiraslanov's head and forced him into a car.

"On the way, investigator named Said planted some object behind between my belt and my trousers. At the same time, he struck me several times to my head," Ilham Amiraslanov writes further.

They brought the detainee to the Sabirabad Olympic complex, where in one of the resort buildings, they tied him to a chair and began to beat him to his head and face and strangle him with a bag put on his head.

Then, at presence of their chief named Nadir, they have seized from Ilham Amiraslanov an object, planted in the car, which turned out to be a pistol. The investigators filmed the moment on video. Initially, they proposed to Ilham Amiraslanov to admit that the pistol was given to him by his brother.

"But when I refused to do that and said that the pistol was planted to me by the man, who was called Said, Said got even more angered and he again began to beat me," the activist writes.

Then, according to Ilham Amiraslanov, he was brought to the office of Rauf Medjidov, Deputy Chief of the Sabirabad District Police Department, where "seizure of the pistol" was re-filmed on video. There, they continued to beat Ilham Amiraslanov. Further, according to the detainee, he was threatened that if he did not make a confession, then he "would be put on a bottle."

After that, Ilham Amiraslanov was forced to confess that he had allegedly found the pistol two months ago in a white bag on the banks of the Araz River, when he returned from grazing. However, according to Ilham Amiraslanov, he had never been engaged in animal husbandry.

The, Ilham Amiraslanov was told that he "should give five rounds." When he asked, where he would take them, he was told that the rounds would be planted to the basement of his house.

On the same day, Ilham Amiraslanov was brought to his house, and out of the basement, he "pulled out" five rounds in a plastic bag, and that fact was also filmed on video.

In his complaint, Ilham Amiraslanov writes that as a result of the violence, he got broken eardrum, and he hardly hear and feel severe pain. "I feel severe pain in my heart," the activist writes. He asks to schedule an urgent medical examination, conduct a forensic medical examination and investigate the facts of torture against him.

Earlier, Ekhsan Zakhidov, Deputy Chief of the MIA's press service, commenting on the Ilham Amiraslanov's case, stated that "it was incorrect to present the man, who had been twice convicted, as a human rights activist."

According to Ekhsan Zakhidov, in 1997, Ilham Amiraslanov was sentenced for desertion, and, in 2002, he was released under amnesty. In the same year, Ilham Amiraslanov was sentenced to 1.5 years of imprisonment on charges of fraud.

Mekhman Aliev, the member of the "Kura" headquarters, Director of the news agency "Turan", claimed inconsistency of the arguments of the representative of the MIA's press service. According to Mekhman Aliev, the purpose of government pressure on local activists is to hide from the public the results of liquidation of flood aftermath, since much of the money were misused and the problems of the affected people had not been solved.

Comments from the press service of the MIA and the General Prosecutor's Office on complaint about torture, filed by Ilham Amiraslanov, are not available. Both the MIA and the General Prosecutor's Office stated that they had no information on the Ilham Amiraslanov's case. Meanwhile, the officials have added that all incoming complaints against law enforcement agents are investigated and in case, if the facts, described in the complaint, are confirmed, the appropriate measures will be taken.