Protest at Kurdamir Mall

Today, several hundred employees of the shopping center in the town Kurdamir (120 km south-west of Baku) protested against a threefold increase in the rents for retail space. Participants of the rally blocked off the Baku-Kurdamir highway.

Latafat Melikova, head of the Regional Center for Human Rights and Education told Turan that the son of MP Farhad Garibov owns the shopping center.

In order to appease the protesters, police arrived at the scene with representatives of the executive branch. There were many confrontations between the police and the protesters and several people were injured. "I, too, suffered in the scuffle. They hurt my hand and smashed the phone. It was done by an employee of the market security named Sarvan", said a human rights activist. 

After the confrontations, the market owners announced that they would not raise the rent, so the protestors calmed down and stopped their action. 

Because of the protests, three people have been detained - two protesters, and Baba Mikyailov, an employee of the Center for Human Rights and Education.

Official agencies - the Interior Ministry, the police in Kurdamir and the executive power have not commented on the situation.

A similar situation occurred at the Bina Shopping Center in Baku at the beginning of this year. The owner of that mall also raised the rent, which was the reason for sharp discontent from thousands of merchants. -03B-