Azerbaijani political migrants demand to release activists deported from Germany

Azerbaijani migrants living in Germany held protest actions in defence of the rights of activists arrested in Baku after deportation. The protestors called on the authorities of German to comply with their international obligations not to extradite persons at risk of torture and also demanded from the Azerbaijan’s government to release all those arrested after deportation.

On February 17, the protest actions were held in the German cities of Gelsenkirchen and Recklinghausen, the “Caucasian Knot” correspondent was informed by Alysh Abdullaev, one of the initiators of the protest actions, an assistant to the DAS (Choose Democratic Azerbaijan) NGO.

According to Alysh Abdullaev, the Azerbaijani activists living in Germany protested against the arrest in Azerbaijan of DAS member Djafar Mirzoev, who was deported from Germany on November 25, 2021, and taken into custody on January 27 on the charge of drug trafficking. Djafar Mirzoev was subjected to torture after his detention, Alysh Abdullaev said.

Along with Djafar Mirzoev, other political activists deported to Azerbaijan, including Malik Rzaev, Mutallim Orudjev, and Pyunkhan Kerimli, were also arrested and tortured, the “Caucasian Knot” correspondent learned from Nurlan Rasulov, another organizer of the protests.

“The arrests of activists and torture of them are not only confirmation of the violation of human rights in Azerbaijan, but also the responsibility of the German government for compliance with its international obligations,” Nurlan Rasulov believes.

At the end of the protest actions, the appeals of the protesters were handed over to the Administrative Court of the city of Gelsenkirchen and the City Office for Foreigners’ Affairs of the city of Recklinghausen.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 18, 2022 at 01:46 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.