Samira Gasymly's 'stop-work' ban lifted, but her foreign trip disrupted

The Azerbaijani Interior Ministry has lifted the ban on Samira Gasymly, the wife of political scientist Azer Gasymly, from leaving the country. However, her trip abroad was disrupted because she did not catch her flight.

As Gasymly told 'Turan' correspondent, after she made public her ‘stop’, the Interior Ministry called her lawyer and informed her that ‘there was a misunderstanding’ and the restriction had already been lifted. 

She hurriedly returned to the airport, went through passport control to the departure area, but by this time the boarding of her flight had ended and she did not get on the plane.

‘Without any court order, a citizen is banned from leaving the country. And then within a few minutes this ban is lifted. And it is not clear who issues these orders? Who, disregarding the law and human rights, decides people's fates by pressing a button. I understand that when my husband Azer Gasymly was abroad, they assumed that he would not return and imposed a ban on my departure from the country in order to keep me hostage here. When Azer returned, they applied the ban on him as well. But they forgot to lift the ban on me,’ Gasymly wrote on her facebook page.

It was not possible to get comments from the Interior Ministry.

Samira Gasymly, as an expert in political psychology, is known for her comments in independent media.

Earlier, on 22 November, her husband, director of the Institute of Political Management, political scientist Azer Gasymly was also not released from the country. A few days later, he was questioned by the Baku police as a witness in some criminal cases. At the same time, no reasons for the ban on leaving the country were explained to him.