Baku/19.06.23/Turan: Victims of the "Terter events" in May 2017, who have now been recognized as victims in an ongoing criminal investigation, claim that they have faced increased pressure following their attempt to hold a protest rally in front of the Presidential Administration building on June 8. The participants of the rally included individuals who were themselves subjected to torture during the "Terter case," those who were acquitted and released after prolonged arrests on charges of high treason and other serious crimes, as well as parents of servicemen who died due to torture.
After the protest action in front of the Presidential Administration, the participants were summoned to law enforcement agencies, detained, and subjected to hours of threats in an attempt to silence them. Valida Akhmedova, the mother of Elchin Guliyev, who died from torture during the "Terter events," shared her account of the situation during an interview on the program "Difficult Question."
According to her, individuals in plain clothes took one of the active participants in the protest, Ruslan Farzaliev, to Shirvan RUP (Regional Police Department), with his hands restrained behind his back. "While they treated him fairly there, they started offering him money and housing in exchange for him to stop his YouTube appearances. They also threatened his cousin, who works as a bricklayer alongside Ruslan Farzaliyev, implying that they would lose their jobs and means of livelihood if their relative didn't calm down," she said.
Valida Akhmedova also recounted how twelve police cars, filled with officers, arrived at Vasif Agayev's house to take him into custody. "A simple phone call would have been enough for Vasif Agayev to voluntarily go to them. However, they acted as if they were neutralizing a gang of terrorists. This show of force was likely intended to intimidate his elderly mother," Akhmedova noted, highlighting the ongoing persecution and intimidation of all the protest participants.
"But we are not demanding anything illegal! We are striving for the punishment of those who have committed crimes and betrayed the people, the state, and the Motherland! Yet, what do we witness? The perpetrators of the 'Terter massacre' are not being detained or even interrogated," she expressed her indignation.
Difficult question
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