Political activist and opposition party member Huseyn Malik arrested
Published: 11 October 2023 13:11
According to the Azerbaijan Democracy & Welfare Party (Azərbaycan Demokratiya və Rifah Partiyasının, or ADR), the real reason for his arrest is a Facebook post.
On 10 October, ADR party member Huseyn Malik was found guilty of hooliganism and failure to comply with lawful demands of the police, and sentenced to 30 days of administrative detention by the Sabail District Court.
Allegedly, 61-year-old Huseyn Malik was involved in a street scuffle and refused to comply when the police tried to stop him. However, the deputy chairman of the party, Adalat Yusub, claims that the information in the police protocol prepared at the scene and later submitted to the court is false. He says that Huseyn Malik was ill and hadn’t been able to get out of bed for a week. Yusub alleges Malik taken from his home to the 41st police precinct in the Sabail district on the morning of 10 October.
According to information, Malik underwent heart surgery some time ago and also suffers from diabetes. Malik was previously arrested for resisting the police, and at that time, he had declared that the charges against him were false.
The party believes the real reason for Huseyn Malik’s arrest are a post criticizing the Azerbaijani government on Facebook.
Vusal Zeynalov, a member of the ADR Gazakh regional organization, was also arrested on 30 September. According to information from the party, Zeynalov posted a status on his social media account discussing a doctor’s conflict in Gazakh and criticizing President Ilham Aliyev. Afterward, he was summoned to the Gazakh district police department, where a protocol was drawn up against him, and he was then taken to court. The Gazakh district court issued a 20-day administrative detention order for him.
On September 16, Allahverdi Babayev, the chairman of the ADR Khazar District organization, was also arrested. He was sentenced to 30 days of administrative detention by the Khazar District Court on charges of resisting the police.
The chairman of the ADR, Professor Gubad Ibadoglu, has been in detention for over three months.