Jamil Hasanli: Baku Executive Power Cheats

The National Council has criticized the refusal of the city authorities to sanction the protest rally on 17 May.

The Chairman of the National Council Jamil Hasanli, commenting the government's decision for Turan, noted that for the second time the power roughly breaks the constitutional freedom of assembly.

The previous rally scheduled for May 3 did not take place because the authorities assigned another event at the stadium Mahsul on the same day. However, it turned out that no event in this stadium was carried out on May 3.

"The authorities are using lies, trying to prevent the actions of the opposition," said Hasanli.

He noted that the National Council appointed the rally on May 17 and the authorities were warned 10 days before.

"However, on May 12 the Mayor's Office, exceeding its powers, sanctioned the rally not on 17 May, but on 16 May. We did not seek to hold the rally on May 16 and we did not ask them to authorize the rally at a time convenient for them.

The Metropolitan Mayoralty again violated the right of citizens to freedom of assembly and made an attempt to ignore its international obligations," said Hasanli.

All these illegal attempts are an indicator of serious concern of the authorities and the desire to prevent a mass rally of the National Council, said Hasanli. -03D04-