Arrest of Akif Safarov in Yekaterinburg appealed

The court received a complaint about the arrest of one of the Azerbaijani nationals detained in Yekaterinburg in connection with the murders.

As "Kavkazsky Uzel" reported, on June 29, the Leninsky District Court of Yekaterinburg remanded Akif Safarov and other ethnic Azerbaijanis who were detained in connection with the murders committed in 2001-2011 into custody. A total of five people were arrested in connection with the case: Akif, Ayaz, Bakir and Mazahir Safarov and Akhliman Ganjiyev.

A complaint about the arrest of Akif Safarov was filed with the court, an employee of the united press service of the courts of the Sverdlovsk region reported. "A complaint was filed about Akif Safarov," RIA Novosti quotes her as saying today.

Recall that after the brutal detention of Yekaterinburg residents, the Azerbaijani authorities canceled the visit of Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk, calling it inappropriate. In addition, the Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan cancelled concerts, festivals, performances, exhibitions and other cultural programs with the participation of the Russian side.

On June 30, Azerbaijani security forces conducted a search in the office of the Russian agency "Sputnik Azerbaijan" and detained two people, calling them agents of the Russian special services. On July 1, the Ministry of Internal Affairs reported that two employees were arrested, and five more are being prosecuted for fraud, illegal entrepreneurship and property laundering.

Azerbaijani security forces also reported the detention of two groups of Russians suspected of drug trafficking and cybercrime. In the videos distributed, traces of beatings were visible on the faces of the detainees. Among them, journalists identified two Russian IT specialists who arrived in Azerbaijan no later than autumn 2022. On July 1, the Sabail District Court of Baku arrested eight Russian citizens, detained on charges of drug trafficking and cybercrimes.

Relations between Moscow and Baku have noticeably worsened after an Azerbaijan Airlines plane with 67 people on board crashed in Kazakhstan on December 25, 2024, while flying from Baku to Grozny. You can read more about this in the "Caucasian Knot" reference "Baku-Grozny flight crash" and in the material "Geopolitical confrontation: what the crash of the AZAL plane led to".

Materials about the deterioration of relations between the two states have been collected by the "Caucasian Knot" on the thematic page "Collapse of ties between Baku and Moscow".