Why was socio-political activist Bakhtiyar Hajiyev arrested?

Baku/12.12.22/Turan: The day before the International Human Rights Day - December 9, the Khatai District Court chose the extreme measure of restraint against public activist Bakhtiyar Hajiyev - arrest for an investigation period - for 1 month and 20 days. The activist is accused of violating the Article 221 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan (Hooliganism) and Article 289 (Contempt of court). He may be imprisoned for up to 3 years.

Speaking in court, Hajiyev denied these accusations and said that he was being persecuted for his political activities and criticizing the government in international forums.

Many human rights organizations, political parties, and public and political figures expressed concern about the arrest of Bakhtiyar Hajiyev, and international organizations issued statements condemning the arrest of the activist.

Rufat Safarov, co-founder of the human rights organization “Line of Defense,” talks about this in the “Difficult Question” program.

According to him, the socio-political activity of Bakhtiyar Hajiyev was such that eventually it had to bring the Azerbaijani authorities out of patience.

“His arrest has already been announced. He was twice abducted by law enforcement agencies, was subjected to physical and psychological pressure. However, the police deny this. However, all suspicions fall on police, since Hajiyev quite rightly criticized the Ministry of Internal Affairs and personally the Minister of Internal Affairs Vilayat Eyvazov. That is, they had motives for persecuting him. Since, based on instructions, he was repeatedly subjected to insults and attempts to humiliate his dignity on social networks,” the human rights activist said.

Safarov also noted that Hajiyev repeatedly raised the question of the legal liability of persons who insulted him before the law enforcement agencies. However, no action was taken.

“Earlier, a criminal case was initiated on the fact of his abduction and exertion of physical pressure on him. Also, he was received by the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Vilayat Eyvazov. According to Hajiyev, the minister said that: "The disclosure of this crime is a matter of honor and within a few days the perpetrators of this crime will be identified and detained," he said.

According to Safarov, later employees of the Main Directorate for Combating Organized Crime (MDCOC) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs detained Hajiyev near his house, kept him for 6 hours and released him, forcing him to delete Facebook posts criticizing the Minister of Internal Affairs.

“Head of the MDCOC Abulfat Rzayev threatened Hajiyev that if the activist does not stop writing about Interior Minister Vilayat Eyvazov on social networks, then he will face even tougher punishment,” the human rights activist said, emphasizing that the law enforcement officers, having created a criminal case out of “nothing,” hid Hajiyev in the dungeons.--0-