07 December 2018, 13:46
Azerbaijani rights defenders update list of political prisoners
The list of political prisoners in Azerbaijan presented by human rights defenders by the International Human Rights Day, marked on December 10, includes 150 persons.
The list was presented by the Union for the Freedom of Political Prisoners of Azerbaijan (UFPPA), which was established on November 2 by rights defenders, the editor-in-chief of the "Tolyshi Sado" newspaper and the head of the Union of Azerbaijani Intellectuals.
"A month ago we announced the creation of our Union. We decided to unite the efforts of human rights defenders and creative intellectuals to protect the rights of political prisoners," Eldaniz Guliev, a co-founder of the UFPPA and the head of the Union of Azerbaijani Intellectuals, said on December 6, opening an event dedicated to the International Human Rights Day.
According to his story, by the significant date, December 10, the UFPPA presented a list of 150 persons. "Over 70% of political prisoners are believers; and most of them were convicted on the Nardaran events of 2015. In total, those arrested for these events received 500 years in prison," Mr Guliev has stated.
On November 26, 2015, in Nardaran, law enforcers detained 14 people, including Talekh Bagirzade, the leader of the "Muslim Unity" Movement. This provoked mass riots in the city, during which seven people were killed. After that, mass arrests of supporters of the "Muslim Unity" took place in Azerbaijan.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on December 7, 2018 at 11:44 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
Author: Faik Medzhid Source: CK correspondent
