Relatives of arrested Kullar protesters claim their innocence

Relatives of the Azerbaijanis accused of violence during the protest action in the tent camp near the village of Kullar insist that Elmar Mekhtiev, Djeikhun Namazov and Anvar Muradov had committed no illegal actions and did not throw stones at policemen.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the Russian-Azerbaijani border is closed due to the pandemic; and the citizens of Azerbaijan, waiting for the departure to their homeland, have to live in a temporary residence set up in a form of a tent camp near the Dagestani village of Kullar. The campers are sent home in groups; lately it is done on a weekly basis.

Yusif Mekhtiev, Elmar's brother claims that his brother's innocence is confirmed by the video records from the protest action.

"The police surrounded the camp, and he was detained. Elmar called twice and told us that he had not done anything illegal. He's just not fluent in Russian. In the case, however, they wrote different things that he was allegedly guilty. There is a video on the Internet showing that my brother was just standing there," Yusif Mekhtiev told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Relatives of another defendant, Djeikhun Namazov, also stated that he had committed no illegal actions. "Djeikhun was detained when he was standing in the camp among hundreds of people. The investigator deceived him by saying that if he confessed to 'throwing stones,' he would be released. Djeikhun naively agreed. He really wanted to return home for the anniversary of our mother's death," Djeikhun's sister has stated.

As stated by Khasan Muradov, a brother of the arrested Anvar Muradov, Anvar is not guilty of what he is charged with; therefore he did not confess.

"On the eve of these events, he was previously included into the group for sending to Azerbaijan; he was the fourth on the list. But then, they began putting people on the list out of the queue, which triggered unrests in the camp. My brother did nothing illegal. He was offered to admit his guilt, to write that he had thrown stones, but he hadn't done it," Khasan Muradov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 4, 2020 at 00:56 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.