Baku police detain PFPA activists for five hours

Six members of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA) were detained outside the Baku Court of Grave Crimes, when they came to the trial of their arrested comrades. They were released five hours after detention.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Agil Magerramov, a member of the PFPA's Presidium; Ruslan Nasirli, Chairman of the Majlis of the PFPA's Youth Committee; and Babek Gasanov, the head of a PFPA's regional organization, were detained on May 25, 2018, and arrested for four months. Their detention happened three days before the rally on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Azerbaijani Republic.

On Monday, January 7, a court session took place in Baku on the case of "illegal PFPA financing." About 100 PFPA activists came to the courthouse to support the defendants and monitor the trial. However, not all of them could get into the courtroom. The police dispersed those who remained outdoors, detained six activists and took them to the police station, as Nureddin Mamedli, the head of the Supreme Majlis of the PFPA, has informed.

Nemat Aliev, one of the detainees, said that the police demanded not to hold illegal meetings and not to resist policemen. "We didn't hold any protest actions and, all the more, didn't try not to obey the police. We violated no laws," Mr Aliev has stated.