Protest Rally of Parents of Persons Involved in "Ganja Case"

Baku / 15.01.20 / Turan: On January 15, parents of persons involved in the “Ganja case” held a protest rally in front of the Supreme Court. Dozens of people blocked the road, chanting the slogan: “Freedom!”

“Our children were illegally arrested, and no official wants to accept and listen to us,” one of the protesters told Turan.

“Why are we being driven to suicide? Our sick children remain in prisons, which ruins their lives,” said another participant in the action.

The police, pushing back the protesters, unblocked the road.

The protesters said that in the morning they came to the presidential administration, but were faced with rudeness.

“We were told to come without journalists and they would accept us, but we were deceived. The police rudely detained us and put us on the bus. We were sent to the Supreme Court, saying that they would receive us there, but after waiting a few hours, we realized that we had been deceived again,” said another protester.

Parents believe that their children were illegally arrested and charged, which was not proven in court.

“The prosecutor asked us, ‘Why did your children pray? ‘ But is this a crime? Our children were so tortured that they still have not recovered from injuries. Three times a month, we give them medicines. For a year and 7 months now we have been on the road between Baku and Ganja. Even the drivers who bring us here are exerted pressure. They are required not to carry us to Baku, threatening us with arrests,” continued the protester.

* On July 3, 2018 in Ganja an attempt was made on the then head of the city Elmar Veliyev. A Ganja native Yunis Safarov wounded him and the bodyguard of the head of the city.

After that, a protest rally in front of the Ganja administration building was scheduled on July 10 on social networks.

On that day, riots broke out in the city, during which two police officers were killed. Following this, mass arrests of believers and others began.

In these events, criminal proceedings were instituted against 70 people. The defendants were sentenced to imprisonment from 6 to 18 years. About 10 people were conditionally released.

Cases of two groups of those arrested are pending before the court of appeal.

The trial on Safarov and 11 others began in January. — 21C-