The Chief executive who did not take bribes

Baku/02.12.21/Turan: The former head of the Gadabay region Saleh Rustamov, who is under arrest, has been on a hunger strike for the 27th day. According to his relatives, the reason for the action was the fact that he was not affected by the amnesty, the execution of which has already begun, his illegal stay under arrest for more than three years and the confiscation of his family's property.

Yesterday, on December 1, an action was held in the city center demanding the release of Saleh Rustamov. According to some data, about 50 people were detained during the action. Some protesters stated that they were subjected to physical pressure during their arrest and in police stations.

Who is Saleh Rustamov, who has been on hunger strike for 27 days and has been recognized as a political prisoner by local and international human rights organizations?

In 1992-1993 he served as the head of the Gadabay region. Submitting later his resignation from office, Rustamov moved to Russia. Saleh Rustamov, who has been living in Russia since 1998 and who came to Azerbaijan to visit relatives, was detained on May 8, 2018 on charges of drug trafficking. The charge was later changed. According to the investigation, Saleh Rustamov was engaged in illegal business in Russia, hid income from the state, and sent the $ 30,000 obtained illegally to an "organization unregistered in the Ministry of Justice" - the Popular Front of Azerbaijan Party (PFPA). By the decision of the Baku Grave Crimes Court, Rustamov  was sentenced to  7 years 3 months.

Taleh Rustamov, Saleh's brother, says that before his brother became the head of the executive branch, he and his friends, one might say, created an army in Gadabay. “There was a Russian military base in Agdam. At that time, front-line activists took this base away from the Russian military. From there we brought ammunition in hundreds of vehicles. Gambar Gurbanov, who at that time was the head of the district executive power, did not give us a single car, but we bought cars and transported this ammunition. Therefore, we did not suffer during the war. In general, Saleh then created a military battalion in Gadabay”.

He noted that Saleh, being the head of the executive branch, lived very poorly. “Before Saleh became the head of the district, our family lived well. But after he took up the post of chief executive, he forbade us to engage in trade. At that time we lived poorly, but we were proud that we didn’t covet the property of the people and the state”.

Rustamov says that when his brother became the head of the executive branch, not a single military man, the martyr's family was left without attention. “One was from Agstafa, the other from Shamkir, they came and talked about their problems, which were resolved on the same day. If our district did not have the opportunity, Saleh called the head of another district and asked. Therefore, everyone, from a soldier to a colonel, looked at Saleh as a brother."--0--