Man who attacked human rights defender detained /UPDATED/

Baku/16.03.23/Turan: A suspect in the late night attack on human rights activist Rufat Safarov has been detained. The activist is satisfied with the police actions and does not link the attack with his human rights activities.

The Interior Ministry's press service told Turan that Mammadkhan Najafov, born 1961, was detained as a suspect and the investigation is ongoing.

Safarov himself told Turan that at 3:30 a.m. on his complaint, the head of the 5th Binagadi police department arrived on the scene along with several officers.

They reviewed CCTV footage of the scene and the shop across the street.

"In the morning I was informed that the person who attacked me had been identified and detained," the human rights defender said.

The detainee explained his actions by saying that he had been "assigned" to the area by a certain Karabakh war veteran to collect car parking fees.

Judging by the way the police actively investigated and promptly detained the attacker, the attack was not planned and had no political overtones, Safarov believes.

"As a human rights activist, I criticise the work of law enforcement agencies for violating citizens' rights, however, in this case, there are no complaints against the police," Safarov said.

"As a person who defends the rights of citizens, I would not like to punish the attacker. Therefore, I asked not to punish him. However, the police has already documented his arrest and the proceedings started", Safarov said.   -21В03/06-

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2023 March 15 (Wednesday) 22:00:43

Human rights activist Rufat Safarov reported on the attack

Baku/15.03.23/Turan: On the evening of March 15, the co-founder of the human rights organization "Protection Line" Rufat Safarov was attacked.

As Safarov  told Turan, at about 20:00 on Jafar Khandan Street in the Binagadi district, he was attacked by an unknown person.

The incident took place  at a car park.

“When I got into my car, an unknown person approached me and began cry. He accused me of taking the place of the war veterans, grabbed my arm and began to drag me. I escaped, but he hit me with his head,” Safarov said. He is sure that this is not an accident, because he has been parking his car at the same place for a long time and pays money for it and did not  take  place of any other person.

After the incident, Safarov immediately called to police and reported about the attack. He considers this is a provocation and demands an investigation by law enforcement agencies.

In turn, the Ministry of Internal Affairs told Turan that they are aware of the incident and information about this would be provided later. -0-