The expulsion of an activist from the municipal council is illegal - CEC secretary

Baku / 26.08.20 / Turan: Public activist Vafa Nagi was expelled from the municipal council of the village of Khol Garagashly, Neftchala region (174 km south of Baku). She herself informed Turan about this.

She noted that during her treatment in Turkey, the head of the municipal council of the village Alibala Salimov for 16 days called meetings three times, and under the pretext of her absence, decided to terminate her powers.

“On July 25, I left for Istanbul for treatment. During this period, Alibala Salimov held meetings three times (5, 10 and 20 August). Motivating my failure to attend meetings, he decided to expel me from the city council. At the same time, I sent letters from Istanbul that I would not be able to take part in the meetings, ”Nagi said. She considers the decision of the municipal council illegal and intends to go to court.

“Alibala Salimov has been the head of the municipal council for 17 years and has never met every five days. Knowing that I will be back on August 21, they held their last meeting on August 20. He set a goal to remove me so that he can manage the municipality himself, ”Nagi said.

In turn, Salimov, in an interview with the Azerbaijani service of the Voice of America, said that Nagi was legally removed from the municipal council. He admitted that he had received a letter from Nagi sent from Istanbul.

“On August 25, the postmaster presented me a letter from Nagi from Istanbul. The letter reached Neftchala on August 22. But the decision to remove it was made on August 20, ”Salimov said.

Salimov admitted that only 9 meetings of the council took place in a year, explaining this by the quarantine regime. However, he was able to explain why he held 5 meetings in 22 days? (July 30, August 5, 10, 15 and 20).

Since Nagi was absent from 4 consecutive meetings, in accordance with paragraph 6 of article 22 of the law on municipalities, her powers were terminated, he said.

However, the decision to terminate a municipality member is made by the court, but not by the Council itself. Thus, CEC Secretary Mikail Rahimov confirmed that the powers of a member of the municipal council cannot be terminated without a court decision.

“A member of an elected body elected by the population cannot be deprived of his powers based on the decision of any meeting. Vafa Nagi can go to court. The decision of the meeting to revoke her powers should be canceled, ”Rahimov told Turan.

Earlier, Salimov filed a lawsuit against Nagi, accusing the activist of libel and insult. This happened after the activist declared corruption in the work of the municipal body, backing up complaints from local residents. The  trial continues in the Neftchala District Court.-03D06-