National Council of Democratic Forces on Gubad Ibadoglu' prosecution

Baku/25.07.27/Turan: The National Council of Democratic Forces (NCDF) has strongly condemned the arrest of opposition politician, Chairman of the Azerbaijan Democracy and Welfare Party (ADWP) Gubad Ibadoglu.

"On 23 July, an act of violence was committed at the state level against ADWP leader, professor at the London School of Economics and Politics, scholar-economist, well-known intellectual Gubad Ibadoglu," the statement reads.

Ibadoglu and his wife were detained with brutal use of force by officers of the Interior Ministry's Main Department for Combating Organised Crime, and both were injured.

Ibadoglu, who is ill with diabetes and hypertension, was not allowed to hand over his medication for a long time after the detention.

The NCDF draws attention to the fact that Ibadoglu was detained on the basis of the testimony of one of the 4 persons previously detained in Azerbaijan on the basis of information from the Turkish Interior Ministry.

However, according to the lawyer, Ibadoglu does not know the person who testified against him.

The NCDF calls absurd the accusations of "making and selling counterfeit money" against the famous scientist, who taught students in prestigious universities in the West how to earn money legally.

"Gubad Ibadoglu only returned to Baku three weeks ago. The allegations that during this time he created an organised criminal group and began to manufacture counterfeit dollars and kept 40 thousand of such money in his office are absolutely implausible," the NCDF statement noted.

Ibadoglu's family members said the office had been tampered with in advance and the same 40,000 dollars, half of which were counterfeit, had been planted.

The NCDF believes that the real reason for Ibadoglu's arrest was his well-founded criticism of the Aliyev regime's corrupt practices.  

Aside from this, Ibadoglu also revealed the facts of corruption in the projects on reconstruction of infrastructure in the territories liberated from occupation.

Besides, he consistently criticised the authorities on his author's YouTube channel "BİZ.tv".

The statement also points out that Ibadoglu himself, after the search in his flat, managed to tell journalists that he was arrested "at the political order of Ilham Aliyev".

The NCDF links Ibadoglu's arrest to his initiative to establish the Azerbaijani Youth Education Fund, which was registered in London.

In recent weeks, five MPs including Tahir Kerimli, Aydin Mirzazade, Elshan Musayev, Jeyhun Mammadov and Fazail Agamaly have attacked the AYEF and its founders and demanded that the authorities take action against the organisation.

Finally, the NCDF condemned the violence and lawlessness against Ibadoglu and demanded the end of his illegal criminal prosecution and the immediate release of the politician. -06В-