Rustam Ibrahimbekov: �I Do Not Change My Civil Position�

Baku / 18.02.19 / Turan: "My visit to Baku occurred after two of my written appeals to the authorities. In my appeals, I did not raise personal questions. We are talking about the Union of Cinematographers of the country, its members, and the property and documentation of this creative association," a well-known screenwriter, chairman of the Union of Cinematographers of Azerbaijan Rustam Ibrahimbekov told Turan in an interview.

As it was possible to resolve the issue of his arrival in Baku against the background of accusations of the authorities about anti-state activities, Rustam Bey responded that in his appeals he stressed that he did not change his civil position, but because of this, others should not suffer.

"What is the fault of 150 members of the Union, why should they sit without work, suffer, why should the cinematographers be deprived of their own property just because I have my own civilian position, different from the opinion of the authorities?"

Why was it necessary to collapse the Union of Cinematographers and split it between my supporters and opponents, and to morally break people?" Ibrahimbekov said.

It is necessary to hold a congress of the Union and put in order its work. People should be given an opportunity to engage in creative work, and these senseless criminal and tax prosecutions should be stopped.

"The authorities may have complaints against me, but why should others suffer? We must stop this idiotic persecution against me because of my film Caucasian Trio," the playwright said.

"In response to these appeals, there was a call from the Presidential Administration and I was told to come," he added.

In a short time staying in Baku, Rustam Bey held a meeting with his colleagues and discussed the situation. "It was decided to hold the next congress, to resolve issues regarding the restoration of violated property rights and, in particular, the House of Creativity in Mingechevir, and the restoration of the lost documentation of the Union. Our attempts to solve these issues in a legal, judicial manner have not yielded results so far. Let's hope that at the top there is a desire to put an end to all this orgy," Ibrahimbekov said.

To the question whether it can be considered that something has changed in the policy of the country's authorities, Ibrahimbekov replied that the near future will show this. "In May we are planning to hold our congress, and until this time, something should be decided and changed.

As for politics, I just want to remind everyone: today, the authorities are raising and solving many of the issues that we raised in the Azerbaijani Intellectuals Forum.

If today the same questions, such as corruption, are discussed at the very top and there is a struggle with this, then why should they make enemies of the state out of us?" Rustam Ibrahimbekov concluded the conversation.

* Rustam Ibrahimbekov is the most famous and titled Azerbaijan screenwriter, State Prize winner, People"s Writer of Azerbaijan, Honored Artist of Azerbaijan and Russia.

He fell into disgrace of the Azerbaijani authorities after he nominated his candidacy for the presidency in 2013. This was regarded as betrayal and the authorities accused him of all sins, starting a massive repression not only against the playwright himself, but also the Union of Cinematographers. -02B-