The death of Saleh Rustamov will be a black spot on the reputation of the entire people

Baku/15.12.21/Turan: Today, December 15, in Baku, on the Fountain Square, an attempt was made to hold a protest action demanding the release of the former head of the executive power of the Gadabay region Saleh Rustamov, who is on hunger strike for the 40th day in protest against his arrest ...

The police prevented  this attempt by detaining, according to human rights activists, about 30 protesters, including Saleh Rustamov's sister Yegana Rustamova, member of the National Council of Democratic Forces and the Musavat party Tofig Yagublu, PFPA member Avaz Huseynov, and others.

Subsequently, Tofig Yagublu, as well as activists of the Popular Front Party Kenan Zeynalov and Babek Hasanov, were accused of “violating the quarantine regime” , fined for 400 manats and released. The fate of the rest is still unknown.

A few days ago began  an action of solidarity with Saleh Rustamov began, today 7 activists take part in it.

The co-founders of the human rights organization "Line of Defense" Rufat Safarov, Zafar Ahmedov, Zaur Akbar and Alaif Hasanov met on December 13 with the Minister of Internal Affairs Vilayat Eyvazov. During this meeting, the issue of Saleh Rustamov was also raised.

Co-founder of the human rights organization "Line of Defense" Rufat Safarov spoke about all this in the program "Difficult Question".

According to him, since January 2019, the rights of citizens to freedom of assembly in Azerbaijan have actually been banned. In connection with the COVID-19 pandemic, a regulatory act was adopted in the country on the introduction of a quarantine regime, which formally restricts the right of citizens to freedom of assembly.

“Nevertheless, go to the streets with protests, which, according to the established tradition, are suppressed by the police forcefully. And today, as a result of the actions of the police, dozens of people were detained, including several persons who were completely not involved in the protest action, ”said the human rights activist, adding that the detainees were taken to the 9th and 39th departments of the Sabail Police Department.

According to Safarov, all local and international human rights organizations, as well as foreign centers of power know that Saleh Rustamov was convicted on trumped-up charges for political reasons. Therefore, it is not surprising that the US State Department and PACE appealed to the Azerbaijani authorities to release Saleh Rustamov. However, the authorities are in no hurry to release Saleh Rustamov.

"Saleh Rustamov may die and his death will be a black spot, not only on the reputation of the authorities and the opposition, but also on the entire people," Safarov believes.

Speaking about the meeting with the Minister of Internal Affairs Vilayat Eyvazov, Rufat Safarov said that he denied the involvement of the police in the beating and humiliation of Tofig Yagublu.