Journalists and PFPA Activist Released

Baku / 18.07.20 / Turan: Journalists Anar Abdullayev and Firudin Salimov detained during the filming of events on the night of July 15 in front of parliament were released from the police on Friday evening.

They themselves told Turan about this.

The journalists were held in police stations for over 60 hours.

They said that they were first taken away from the parliament building to the 9th branch of the Sabail district police department, and from there - the 4th branch of the Binagadi police.

There is a room of 9 square meters, where they were kept together with other 4 persons.

On Friday, the journalists were brought to the Investigative Department of the Prosecutor General’s Office, and then returned to the department and eventually released.

The journalists are planning to appeal against the conditions of their detention in the police.

PFPA activist Matanat Makhmarzayeva (Turan) was also released on Friday evening.

She was detained on July 16 for taking part in the "Karabakh action" in front of the parliament in support of the army.

The activist was questioned in a criminal case initiated in connection with the events around the parliament on the night of July 15.

Makhmarzaeva refrained from detailed comments, referring to the non-disclosure liability.

The activist Elvin Jabizadeh was also released.

He was not at a rally in front of parliament. Jabizadeh was detained near the seaside boulevard in the morning of July 15, when he arrived there for his wife, journalist Aisel Umudova, who was filming ongoing actions in support of the army in the city.

“I was detained in front of the Hilton. They told me that some people broke into parliament and an investigation is underway.

At first they thought that we rioted. But in the course of the investigation, it turned out that we were not involved in this. Nevertheless, despite the fact that everything became clear, we were not allowed to go. Then they released us and took a non-disclosure liability receipt from us,” Jabizadeh said.

He noted that despite the poor conditions of detention, the treatment was normal.

“The treatment was good, but there was no place to sleep, as there were practically no conditions,” Jabizadeh said.–06D-