Human rights activist Intigam Aliyev arrested in Azerbaijan: new
arrests to be implemented in civil sector
15:38 09/08/2014 >> REGION
Azerbaijani human rights activist, the head of the Legal Education
Society Intigam Aliyev is arrested. Law enforcement agencies of
Azerbaijan are going to involve the human rights activist in the
high-profile case of the couple Yunus, reports the Azerbaijani news
portal “Haqqin.az.” As noted in the article, a few months ago the
Azerbaijani special services allegedly received conclusive evidence of
Aliyev’s cooperation with foundations and NGOs funded by Western
pro-Armenian community.
Nasiminski regional court of Azerbaijan arrested Intigam Aliyev for
three months. Aliyev was charged with the articles 213.1 (evasion of
taxes or contributions for compulsory social insurance in significant
amount), 308.2 (abuse of power) and 192.2 (illegal business). Aliyev
denied all allegations and said that his arrest was politically
motivated, the publication article says.
“Intigam Aliyev believes that the real reason for his arrest is his
advocacy, complaints send to the European Court of Human Rights and
exposing facts on corruption,” said lawyer Anar Gasimly.
Earlier news agency “Turan”, referring to Annagi Hajibayli, the
president of the Association of Lawyers, reported that the prosecutors
conduct a search in the apartment of the human rights defender Intigam
Aliyev and the office of “Legal Education Society” headed by him.
According to the lawyer, Anar Gasimly, during the search flash cards,
computer, and three souvenir daggers have been seized. They didn’t
wait for the completion of the search of the office and took Aliyev to
Nasimi District Court for preventive measure. It is still unclear in
what Aliyev is accused of. According to some reports, he was accused
of the same charges as the previously arrested human rights activists
– tax evasion, illegal business, reports the source.
“Turan” also reports that the MIA officers and the MNS surrounded the
office of another human rights activist, director of the Institute for
Reporters’ Freedom and Safety Emin Huseynov. At about 16pm the
investigators of the prosecutors’ office entered the studio of the
Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety. This was the second floor
of the office, where the representative of the office let them enter.
Prior to this, the investigators presented a warrant to conduct a
search, and threatened to break the door down. Having been refused,
they demanded the keys from the owner of the premises. However, the
owner said that she had no keys, and she had no claim to the tenants
with whom she has a legal contract. Earlier the police had driven out
the journalists who had come to the office, reads the article.
“It is possible that Huseynov could be arrested under the commencement
of criminal proceedings against human rights activists and heads of
NGOs. A few days ago, Emin Huseynov was refused the opportunity of
leaving the country and thus his arrest cannot be excluded too, stated
the director of “Turan” Mehman Aliyev.
Later news agency “Haqqin.az”, citing a source in law-enforcement
bodies, reported that information about the detention of the Director
of the Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety is untrue.
Source: Panorama.am