Youth Activist Elvin Pashayev Arrested

On charges of drug trafficking, a member of Musavat Elvin Pashayev was arrested in Sumgait, where he lives.

The lawyer Nemat Karimli told Turan Pashayev was detained on January 23. However, his parents were not informed about that.

Only on 26 January the lawyer found out that Pashayev was arrested by the Narimanov court for 4 months under Article 234.4.3 (drug trafficking on a large scale).

Elvin Pashayev works as a teacher at the preparatory courses Hedef. He was detained in Sumgayit as he walked to class. The investigation claims that the young man was found 65 grams of opium in his pocket.

Pashayev’s relatives are convinced that he is being persecuted for political reasons, for criticizing the government. So, Pashayev was arrested shortly after the publication of a critical article about the Sumgait State University. The lawyer said the arrest will be appealed at the Court of Appeal.

The Deputy Chairman of the party Musavat Elman Fattah told Turan Pashayev is persecuted for political reasons. According to him, Pashayev not only published critical articles about the problems of education, but was also popular among young people as a teacher.

"The prosecution of drug trafficking is absurd. Elvin is a very educated man and an intellectual, and no one would believe that he was selling drugs," said Fattah.

In recent years a number of young activists have been arrested on similar charges, including Abdul Abilov, Omar Mammadov, Rashad Agaaddin (Ramazanov), Elvin Abdullaev, Murad Adilov, and the brothers Faraj and Siraj Kerimli. -05B06-