Residents of Sabirabad Call for the Release of Ilham Amiraslanov

The villagers of Askerbeyli, Gasymbeyli, Yukhary Ahtachy and Muradbeyli in the Sabirabad district have sent an appeal to the head of state demanding the release of human rights defender Ilham Amiraslanov from detention.

    The authors reiterated Amiraslanov defended the rights of victims of the 2010 floods.  He investigated the theft of public money allocated for victim compensation.

    The authors are sure the police planted weapons that were found in the Amiraslanov house. Thus, shortly before his arrest the police came to his house and asked the neighbors if he had a dog and whether he was at home.

    During his arrest on June 8 the police were very rough, breaking crockery and furniture and destroying everything that was there.

    "Ilham was brought into the yard in handcuffs. He looked very bad, it seemed that he was beaten," the appeal reads.

    The local residents could not get clarification of the matter from the executive power. Only from the press, they learned that a pistol was found at Ilham’s.

    "Ilham was arrested for his public activities, for the fact that he defended the rights of flood victims. This is bureaucratic arbitrariness and a political order. We demand the release of Ilham Amiraslanov," says the statement signed by 300 residents of the aforementioned villages. 

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