Disabled war veterans cannot ensure punishment for policemen who beat them up

Baku/28.02.22/Turan: Three invalids and participants in the second Karabakh war held a protest outside the General Prosecutor's Office of Azerbaijan on February 28, 2022, demanding an investigation and punishment of those who beat up the veterans. Ruslan Mammadov, a participant in the protest, told Turan that other protesters were detained on the way to the Prosecutor General's Office.

According to Mammadov, on 11 January several police officers were having lunch at a cafe rented by Mammadov and another veteran, Agabala Veliyev. The police sergeants ate and, without paying, were about to leave. The owners of the cafe - the war veterans - became indignant and demanded payment.  A conflict broke out between the policemen and the veterans - Ruslan Mammadov, Agabala Veliyev, Vugar Veliyev and Turk Eyvazzade. The same evening all the veterans were detained from their homes with the accusation of violating the quarantine regime. The war veterans' hands were restrained and beaten at the 13th police station in the Sabunchu district of Baku.

They were told that they were fined for violating the pandemic regime. But no documents about our fines have been produced.

"There are the results of expert examination of the marks of beating, recordings from street cameras, complaints from veterans. However, the Sabunchu district prosecutor's office is not considering our appeals. We cannot get information by phone, they try to intimidate us on a daily basis, demanding from us to drop our complaints against the police officers. We only demand the implementation of the law. - Ruslan Mamedov said.

In the course of the action the participants were invited to the Prosecutor General's Office. There, they were received by the head of the complaints department. According to Mammadov, the veterans were promised that their appeals would be dealt with in keeping with the law.-0-