Azerbaijani activist arrested after returning from Germany

Anar Aliev, an activist who came from Germany to visit his sick father, was arrested in Azerbaijan on charges of large-scale drug dealing; and his wife was banned from leaving the country. She said that Anar had confessed under pressure.

Anar Aliev was detained in Baku, his wife Anara Alieva has stated. "Our whole family – my husband and two children – came to Azerbaijan on July 8 to visit my sick father-in-law. On August 4, we were supposed to return to Germany. On July 25, my husband was arrested," Anara told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

She told that she was repeatedly called to the police, where they to take proof from her that her husband was a drug user. "Later, Anar told us that he confessed under pressure. My husband was told that if he did not confess to using drugs or possessing weapons, then family members would have problems, so he confessed that he had used drugs," Ms Alieva has explained.

She has added that the first advocate invited by the family colluded with the police and further aggravated her husband's case. "Anar told the advocate that he had testified under pressure and wanted to retract the confession. But the advocate did nothing. I asked him to ask Anar for a permit that I take the children to Germany, but the advocate failed to do it either. Two weeks later, the advocate told us that Anar's case was a customized one; and he could do nothing. He said that I was forbidden to leave the country. I did not believe it, but on August 4 they really did not let me out of Azerbaijan," Anara Alieva said.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 16, 2022 at 00:40 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.