Khoshbulag villagers say they were beaten and threatened with rape by Dashkesan police

Baku/05.06.23/Turan: A group of residents of Khoshbulag village of Dashkesan region were detained by local police, pushed into cars and brought to the regional department of the Interior Ministry. There, police officers beat and tortured the detained men and threatened them with rape and dismissal of their relatives' jobs if Khoshbulag residents continued to graze cattle and do other agricultural work on the mountainous territories belonging to Beylar Eyubov, the villagers said.

It is to be recalled that Colonel General Beylar Eyubov is the head of the Security Service of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and first deputy head of the Special State Security Service of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

One of the detainees, Bagirov Ruzi, a veteran of the second Karabakh war, said the area around Khoshbulag village had been sold to state officials.  Residents have met with officials in Baku about this; however, the violence against the villagers continues. All the land has been bought up, and peasants and cattle are arrested for showing up on the land occupied by the officials.  In Khoshbulag village, B. Eyubov's sister has built a villa, hundreds of hectares of land are occupied, and residents have nowhere to graze cattle or grow produce, Bagirov said.

"I and others were beaten up by the police; I have an X-ray with evidence of broken bones in the police; they threaten to fire our relatives working as cleaners and security guards for 250-300 manats a month.  After the detainees were released, they fined them 50 manats, allegedly for resisting police. We demand to be allowed to earn money on our land because we have no other way to earn money," he said.

According to other residents, Khoshbulag village land has been bought by Ahad Abiyev, head of the Dashkesan region. He also sells the land to Baku officials who run sheep herds that graze on fields that peasants are not allowed to access.

In response to telephone enquiries from Turan to the Dashkesan region, an officer on duty said that the executive power had nothing to do with police work. At the Dashkesan police department, an officer refuted information about beatings and any violence towards citizens. "Even a single snap (bir chirtma - Az.) against citizens is impossible in the Dashkesan region police," he said.-0-