Arrested Editor of Religious Site xeber44.com

On the decision of the Masalli Court, September 10, the editor of the leading religious site of the region www.xeber44.com Araz Guliyev was arrested. He is charged under Article 221.2.1 (hooliganism in group), according to the Institute of Reporters Freedom and Safety, with reference to his brother. Araz Guliyev was arrested during a protest action on the faithful folk festival in Masalli.

According to the Interior Ministry, in the evening of September 8 Araz Guliyev and Rza Agali tried to disrupt the event associated with the festival of folklore. As a result, two residents of the area and a police officer suffered, and the glasses of a service car were broken. "The protesters demanded the topless disco dancers to go away and called for respect to national traditions. Neither Araz nor other detainees committed disorderly conduct," said the brother of the arrested, Azer Guliyev. According to him, Araz attended as a journalist and covered the protests of the faithful. He previously covered the stock of believers against the ban on headscarves and other negative phenomena. That was the reason for his arrest, according to his brother.

According to his brother, in Masalli police the detainees were tortured and their condition worsened, and the police called for an ambulance twice.

Currently Araz Guliyev is in the Kurdakhany jail and does not have a lawyer. -06D-