Detentions in Seyudlu stopped, but village remains under police control

Baku/03.07.23/Turan: The village of Seyudlu in the Gedabey region continues to be under police control. At the same time the government commission continues to work on the monitoring and environmental impact assessment of the nearby gold mine.

"Police officers allow only local residents into the village after checking their documents," said a local resident who wished to remain anonymous.

However, the source said that there are no more police officers inside the village.

There are also no new detainees in the village.

"Apart from the 10 persons arrested in the previous days, there are no new detainees," the source continued.

At the same time, he said, none of the detainees have been released yet.

The source added that the machinery was operating around an artificial lake where chemical waste from the gold mine was being dumped.

Locals believe that this body of water is being enlarged.

At the same time, the source indicated that the work on the construction of the new artificial lake was stopped, due to which a protest rally had been held in the village on June 20.

"As for the activities of the government commission, its members come to the village every day, do some work and leave at the end of the day," the source said.

According to him, locals believe that "the members of the commission, in order to deeply investigate the impact of the plant on the environment, should live by the lake for a few weeks.

"But they don't do that," the source said.

It was not possible to get comments from the police authorities.

In turn, Irada Ibrahimova, spokesperson for the Ministry of Ecology, told the Azerbaijani service of "Voice of America" that the commission members were working in the village of Seyudlu, and continued activities during the holidays as well.

"Specialists are currently continuing monitoring in the village. Soil, water and air samples are being taken for analysis," Ibrahimova said.

On June 20, Seyudlu residents staged a protest rally, alleging pollution by a nearby gold-mining company. Police violently dispersed the protest. As a result of the dispersal, 10 people were injured, five were detained and administratively arrested for 20 days. Another resident was fined 1,500 manats. Later, several more people were detained. However, law enforcement agencies do not report the number of detainees. -03B06-