Activist of Musavat Party Detained

Baku / 12.10.18 / Turan: Azad Hasanov, an activist of the Surakhani regional organization of the Musavat Party, was detained on 11 October by people in civilian clothes and taken away in an unknown direction.

Hasanov lives in emigration in Lithuania. He returned to Azerbaijan on October 10 to visit a seriously ill father, the Musavat press service told Turan.

Hasanov has been a member of Musavat since 2003, and in 2014 he went into exile, receiving political asylum in Lithuania.

His wife Tarana Hasanova reported that he did not encounter any problems at the Baku airport.

"Azad was informed that his father was dying and he urgently arrived on the night of October 10. He crossed the border control without any problems and stayed with his father until dinner. Later he went to the mosque for prayer. There, people in civilian clothes stopped him and forced him into a Hyundai car with number plate 662. When my brother tried to help him, he was pushed away and told that they were from the police," Hasanov"s wife said.

It has not been possible to learn the place of Hasanov"s detention. The family members called the MIA service 102, but could not get information about the reasons for the detention or Hasanov's location.

Lawyer Osman Kazimov, attracted by his family to the defense, has also not yet been able to figure out where Hasanov is.

The head of the Musavat party, Arif Hajili, condemned the detention of Hasanov. "Open your eyes and see what processes are happening in the world. Stop oppressing the whole nation. Let people live normally. Freedom for political prisoners!" he wrote on his Facebook page.

The Lithuanian Embassy declined to comment on the matter, citing a lack of information. It was also not possible to get comments from the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. -03B-