Oppositionist Nemat Panakhly arrested in Azerbaijan

Nemat Panakhly, the chairman of the National Statehood Party of Azerbaijan (NSPA), was arrested for 30 days for disobeying the police. His wife and rights defenders do not rule out that he was arrested for his political statements.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that earlier Nemat Panakhly stated that he had been persecuted by the authorities for his political activities. In June 2011, he was sentenced to six years in prison in a hooliganism case. Panakhly denied all the charges. In March 2016, he was pardoned.

Nemat Panakhly was detained on October 12, and on the same day was administratively arrested for 30 days, Gadzhar Panakhly, his wife, has stated today.

She was told that Nemat was arrested under Article 535.1 (disobeying the lawful demands of a policeman) of the Azerbaijani Code of Administrative Offenses. "Allegedly, he did not obey the traffic police," Ms Panakhly has stated.

She does not believe the charges. "Nemat has never maliciously violated traffic rules; and, moreover, he has never admitted disobedience. Obviously, he's been again arrested for his political views," Gadzhar Panakhly is sure.

Ogtai Gyulyalyev, the coordinator of the Centre for the Protection of Political Prisoners, also doubts the arrest reasons, announced by the police.

"Nemat Panakhly is in politics for over 30 years. He would never conflict with the police. Apparently, once again, some of his statements were disliked by someone at the top. We'll clear out the circumstances of the case and deal with the defence of Nemat's rights," Mr Gyulyalyev told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on October 13, 2018 at 03:35 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.