In the last 24 hours in Azerbaijan: Musavat Party activist Eldeniz Veli oghlu, of the Oghuz region, was detained by police in the afternoon on June 19, as he sought to ask the region’s head of the Executive Administration a question during a public meet and greet. According to Yeni Musavat Newspaper, Vali oghlu has been in a local police department for over three hours and his colleagues believe he is being subjected to mistreatment. In addition, Azadliq Newspaper reports Popular Front Party activists in Oghuz are being harassed after they held a June 9 event. At least 10 youth activists have received warnings. The paper also reported that the Executive Administration sought to deliberately exclude opposition members from the June 19 meet and greet at which Veli oghlu was detained. Imprisoned former Minister of Health Ali Insanov has expressed his support for the National Council, Voice of America’s Azeri service reports. Insanov should be released from jail within the next three months pursuant to a March 14, 2013 European Court of Human Rights decision ordering nullification of the verdicts against Insanov and his immediate release. The Court’s decision went in effect on June 14 at midnight. Insanov has been in jail since October 2005, when he was accused of plotting a coup within the framework of the 2005 parliamentary elections and committing financial crimes. He was sentenced to 11 years of imprisonment. The National Council brings together many of Azerbaijan’s leading opposition parties and is expected to put forth a united opposition candidate for the 2013 presidential elections. According to the website Vesti.az, Azerbaijan’s former Deputy Minister of Defense (1992) Isa Sadikhov was recently added to the list of international wanted persons. He allegedly violated Article 341.3 of Azerbaijan’s Criminal Code, “Abusing authority, excess or inactivity of authority with severe consequences during military service.” Sadikhov, a former political prisoner who left Azerbaijan and obtained political asylum Norway in 2001, has recently expressed support for the National Council and also is a member of the committee working to defend the rights of former Azerbaijan International University rector Elshad Abdullayev and Abdullayev’s missing brother Mahir Abdullayev. Sadikhov is highly critical of Azerbaijan’s incumbent government.
Posted on: Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:42:05 +0000