The arrest of Ali Aliyev is a challenge to the entire public

Baku/24.01.22/Turan: On Monday, January 24, the first meeting of the Committee for the Protection of the Rights of Chairman of the Citizens and Development Party (CDP) Ali Aliyev, who was arrested on January 13 for 5 years in prison, was held at the Baku office of the human rights organization "Line of Defense" on charges of libel. The Committee has 147 members, however, due to the pandemic and the limited space of the premises, specially invited people took part in the meeting.

The speakers noted that the arrest of Ali Aliyev and a series of arrests of journalists, public details, beatings of oppositionists are part of the policy of strangling civil freedom and freedom of speech in Azerbaijan, which has intensified since last year.

In Azerbaijan, arrests are already being made not only for criticism, but also for voicing a version of this or that event, as happened with the crash of a border troops helicopter. The announced belated official reasons for the tragedy caused widespread skepticism in society, and one of those who doubted the official version was Ali Aliyev, Fuad Gahramanli, a member of the PFPA presidium, said.

According to Mehman Aliyev, director of the Turan News Agency, the arrests of journalists, public and political figures on charges of defamation, the adoption of a repressive media law are part of an integral policy to limit the freedom of the information community in Azerbaijan, which impoverishes millions of people and society should say no to this policy.

The meeting participants decided to appeal to the public and the international community to consolidate efforts to release Aliyev and put an end to repression and persecution of freedom of speech in Azerbaijan.

On January 13, the Yasamal District Court of Baku sentenced Ali Aliyev to five months in prison on charges of libel. The lawsuit against him was filed by Colonel-Lieutenant of the Border Service Emil Jafarov.

It should be noted that another similar lawsuit against Aliyev was filed by another officer of the border service, Ramin Adilov. They are both survivors of the Mi-17 helicopter crash on November 30th in the Khizi region. The reason for the lawsuit was Aliyev’s interview to the Osmanqızı TV Youtube channel on December 9, 2021.

In particular, Aliyev suggested that the helicopter could have crashed as a result of a provocation from the outside, so the attack on the helicopter of the border service should be considered an attack on the borders of Azerbaijan, he said.

Aliyev did not rule out that Russia could be behind the provocation, which has long been seeking to secure the border of Azerbaijan. –0--