Statement by the National Council on the recent repressions launched by the Azerbaijani authorities against the opposition

Baku/20.07.20/Turan: Beginning from July 12, the Armenian armed forces, using heavy artillery, shelled residential areas and military positions in the direction of the Tovuz region of Azerbaijan. In the new wave of conflict, which lasted until July 14, the Azerbaijani army lost 12 servicemen, including a general, and one civilian.

In order to protest the Armenian aggression and support the Azerbaijani army, tens of thousands of people marched through the streets of Baku from the evening of July 14 to the night of July 15 and gathered in front of the parliament building near the Alley of Martyrs. Patriotic slogans about Garabagh and martyrs were chanted throughout the rally.

However, at night a group of protesters entered the lobby of the
parliament, which was mysteriously left unprotected and kept open. According to the authorities, the action of the group caused damage to the building of 22,000 manats.
At the same time, another suspected provocative group damaged two police cars on the road. There are enough reasonable arguments to assume that these provocations are related to the authorities. Based on these incidents, on the night of July 15, police brutally dispersed thousands of people in the square with watering cans, gas bombs, rubber bullets, and police batons. Furthermore, in the days following July
15, a large number of protesters were detained. The most unfortunate thing is that this incident was used as a pretext against the National Council and the Azerbaijani Popular Front Party (APFP) at the presidential level.

At a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers on July 15, Ilham Aliyev spoke at length about the rally and blamed the APFP for the provocation. He instructed law enforcement agencies to investigate APFP members even to the extent of their activities on social media, made harsh accusations against the National Council and the APFP, called them "traitors",
"adverse elements", "riffraff of the Popular Front", and "We have taught them a lesson, we will teach them again… ”, “They will be taught a lesson that will be the last lesson…”.

Following Ilham Aliyev's speech, 11 members of the Popular Front Party, including one woman, were detained. Two of them (a member of the party's Presidium, Garabagh war veteran Asif Yusifli and party activist Seymur Ahmadov) were prosecuted and sentenced to three months in prison. In addition to members of the Popular Front Party, a large number of ordinary citizens and several social activists were detained.

Although some detainees were later released, arrests continue. It is unknown at this time how many more detainees will be sentenced to prison. Two detained members of the Popular Front Party - Matanat Mahmarzayeva and Farid Asadov - were released after one day in the police station. Prior to the preparation of this document, members of the party's Presidium and activists Mahammad Imanli, Elvin Mammadov, Ramil Tagiyev, Vugar Abilov, Ramid Naghiyev, and Islam Hasanov were detained by the police, but no decision had been made regarding them yet.

Thus, regardless of how sad it is, the people's patriotic demonstration in the face of foreign aggression, their rally in support of their army, became a means of repression against a political rival at the presidential level. In his hate speech on July 15, Ilham Aliyev once again instructed to crackdown the National Council and the Popular Front Party. Unfortunately, this is not Ilham Aliyev's first hate speech against the National Council and the Popular Front Party. Since March 19 this year, in almost every speech, he has expressed the same aggression rhetoric
against the National Council and the Popular Front.

Since his hate speech in March, more than 30 journalists, social and political activists have been administratively arrested, including 22 members of the Popular Front Party. Additionally, 6 members of the National Council and APFP were arrested during the same period (Tofig Yagublu, a member of the Coordination Center of the National Council; Asif Yusifli and Bakhtiyar Imanov, members of the Presidium of the APFP; and APFP activists Niyamaddin Ahmadov, Said Mammadzade (Bakuvi), and Zamin Salayev).

The National Council states that although it fully supported the July 14-15 rally, it did not participate in it as the organization. It is obvious that if the National Council joined the rally, the government would resort to provocations and use it for widespread repression. The National Council was interested in ending the protest without provocation, violence, and
arrests. A small number of APFP members took part in the action, and they did not commit any illegal acts.

The National Council strongly condemns the denigration of this great demonstration of patriotism performed by the Azerbaijani people, its message that they will not give up Garabagh, made at the level of the head of state that used it as a pretext for repressions against the opposition and civil society. The Azerbaijani society should not neglect this but protest loudly. -0-