Opposition activist arrested in Azerbaijan for quarantine violation

Baba Suleimanov, an activist of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), has been arrested for 30 days for violating the quarantine regime. The party treats the arrest as politically motivated.

Suleimanov was detained in the evening on April 13 near the home of Ali Kerimli, the PFPA leader. "Baba was on his way to Mr Kerimli. Despite the fact that Baba had a two-hour-long SMS permission to leave home, and his time had not expired, policemen, who had apparently taken the building where Kerimli lives under surveillance, detained him," Ilham Gusein, a member of the PFPA's Presidium, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

According to his story, on April 14, the Nasimi District Court of Baku sentenced Suleimanov to 30 days of arrest, finding him guilty under Article 211 (violation of anti-epidemic, sanitary or quarantine regimes) of the Azerbaijani Code of Administrative Offences.

"This is an obviously fabricated case. Baba Suleimanov is our fourth activist arrested in an administrative order during the past five to six days," Mr Gusein has stated.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on April 14, 2020 at 09:52 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.