Civil Society Demands to Punish the Police of Khachmaz region

Group of NGOs issued a statement demanding to punish those who  put  pressure on the representatives of the Election Monitoring Center and the Institute for Reporters Freedom and Safety on Tuesday in Khachmaz.

The document, signed by the leaders of 26 NGOs in the field of democracy and human rights, said that the police of Khachmaz region violates  the right to freedom of assembly and disrupted the event, held in the framework of international organizations.

Such actions by the authorities deepen the  gap  between the government and civil society, and does not correspond  to statements on support from civil society. "We demand to stop this phenomenon and punish those responsible," reads the statement.

The  training  of the Election Monitoring And Democracy Studies Center (EMDC) was prevented  by police led by the chief of criminal investigation department, Amil Tahirli. Police used force against participants and drove them out of the hotel "Sahil", where the meeting was held. Some of the participants were arrested and taken to the police station, where they are accused of assaulting police, and psychological pressure was put on them  for few hours. -16D-