Two oppositionists arrested for 15 days each in Azerbaijan

Makhir Rustamli and Idayat Rasulzade, activists of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), detained during the trial of their party comrade in the city of Sumgait, were found guilty of disorderly conduct (petty hooliganism). The activists are prosecuted on a trump-up accusation, the PFPA spokesman has stated.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that five PFPA were detained on February 11 in Sumgait. They came there to support their fellow party member Zakhir Mamedli, arrested on February 5.

Later, three of them were set free, but Makhir Rustamli and Idayat Rasulzade were left at the police station, Ilham Gusein, member of the PFPA Presidium, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

"When three of them were released yesterday (on February 11), they were told by the police that Idayat had already been at large, but it turned out that he and Makhir were kept at the police station and were brought to justice today," Mr Gusein said, noting that neither detainees' relatives, nor their party comrades were informed about the time of the court session. "Only after the session of the Sumgait City Court, relatives of Makhir and Idayat were called from the city police and told that they had been arrested for 15 days each. The young men were charged with Article 510.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (petty hooliganism). "Of course, this is a trump-up accusation they had just come to the court to support their party comrade," said Ilham Gusein.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 12, 2019 at 10:44 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.