Elchin Hasanzade asked for help from Solidarity Committee for Justice

Activist and journalist Elchin Hasanzade, who has been living in Mingachevir since 2017, appealed to the public Solidarity Committee for Justice with a request due to violations of the rights of his family members.

Hasanov pointed out that his efforts to expose official abuses and draw attention to the grievances of the population in Mingachevir had previously caused pressure on him from city officials, including the head of the city executive. Thus, in March 2021, Hasanov was sentenced to eight months of imprisonment for insulting and slandering after a complaint against him by Shakhriyar Mustafayev, head of the Mingachevir housing and maintenance department.

Released in November 2020, Hasanov claims that his subsequent attempts to get a job were deliberately suppressed by local authorities. Hasanov's situation worsened when on June 3, his wife and mother-in-law were dismissed from their positions in the management of the Mingachevir water utility.

He claims that this action was directed by the head of the executive power of the city by Samir Aliyev, the head of the Vodokanal management and a relative of the head of the Mingachevir administration.

At present, living in a rented apartment with a small child, Hasanov emphasizes the complexity of his family's situation. His wife, who was supposed to be on maternity leave until October, was forced to go to work earlier due to their financial difficulties, and now she has been fired.Hasanov asks the Committee to intervene to restore his wife to work. According to him, the dismissals of his wife and mother-in-law are a deliberate attempt to force the family to leave Mingachevir.

In turn, the head of the Mingachevir water utility Samir Aliyev told Turan that Hasanzade's wife and mother-in-law "are not fired", but "are on vacation." At the same time, he noted that in connection with the abolition of JSC Azersu and the creation of the State Agency for Water Resources, all structures subordinated to the joint-stock company are being liquidated.

After that, recruitment to the structures of the new state agency will begin. All employees have received notifications about this, Aliyev said. However, it is difficult to say who will be able to continue working personally, since employees will be recruited again, Aliyev noted.

However, Hasanzade denied Aliyev's claims about giving his wife and mother-in-law a notice of impending dismissal. "They don't give us a notification so that we can't sue," Hasanzadeh said.