Rights defenders urge to investigate beating of blogger Guseinov in Baku

Azerbaijani authorities should thoroughly investigate the beating up of the blogger, Mekhman Guseinov, human rights organizations have stated. In its turn, the country's Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) has assured that policemen did not participate in beating Guseinov.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in the evening on December 27, in Baku, policemen stopped the picket held by the activist and blogger, Mekhman Guseinov, in support of the rapper, Parviz Guluzade; policemen took him out of town and beat him up, Guseinov himself has stated.

On December 28, Mekhman Guseinov turned to the Baku City Clinical Centre, where he underwent an examination, the blogger himself told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

"Doctors have fixed traumas on my neck, on my ribs on the left side, abrasions and bruises on my arms and legs. In fact, I was removed from my election campaign for some period," he has complained.

Guseinov intends to file a complaint about policemen's actions to the Prosecutor's Office.

Mekhman Guseinov's beating was reacted by the Norwegian human rights organization "Human Rights House Foundation". Its activists have called on the Azerbaijani authorities to "quickly and thoroughly investigate the incident" and bring the perpetrators to justice, the organization stated on December 28 on the Twitter.

Elshan Gasanov, the head of the Centre for Monitoring Political Prisoners of Azerbaijan (CMPPA), has called the beating of the blogger "flagrant arbitrariness." The CMPPA has demanded to investigate the attack on the blogger and punish the perpetrators.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on December 29, 2019 at 04:22 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.