A protest rally in central Baku on December 1 was followed with tens of participants detained, five arrested, and a few visibly tortured.
The rally took place in the Fountains Square in defense of the opposition Popular Front Party member Saleh Rustamli, who was imprisoned in 2018 and started a hunger strike this November with demand to be freed. Rustamli is accused of running illegal business and sponsoring the Popular Front, and convicted on money laundering. His lawyer and him reject the accusation and say that he ran a legitimate business in Russia and sent money to the families of imprisoned party members only. On the day the rally took place he was on the 26th day into his hunger strike and his health deteriorated.
The organizers of the rally, Mete Turksoy and Ilkin Rustamzada, were detained even before they could show up in the rally. They were later released far from the city, respectively in Alat and Khizi districts.
The police were prepared on the spot and blocked the movement of cars through the main streets. Empty buses were seen to be parked in the square designated to drive away the detainees, a known fact from previous demonstrations.
As soon as the protestors started chanting the slogan “Freedom to Saleh Rustamli”, the police immediately detained them and moved to either police cars or the buses. In the footage recorded, the police are seen to have imposed force against multiple detainees, by kicking, hitting with sticks and dropping their head to the ground.
Reportedly up to 40 protestors, and even a few bystanders, were detained, most of them being released shortly after without any charges. One bystander, a 15-year-old teenager, was detained, while his family did not know his whereabouts, and was released only several hours later.
Another bystander, political activist Rustam Ismayilbayli, was detained by several policemen quickly. Ismayilbayli showed up in the scene only after the rally was over and, in the video of his detainment, is heard saying that he is not a participant. A day before the rally, he posted on his Facebook that he was not sure of attending the rally because of overload of his university classes.
Soon after the public was shocked to see Tofig Yagublu, long-time oppositionist and politician, who was also detained at the rally and released in Alat. Yagublu visibly suffered from physical torture, so much that his eyes were swelled up. In his interview to the media, Yagublu said that he was put a hood on and repeatedly beaten at the police station and later in the police car and in Alat. According to him, those who beat him up were disguised in civil clothes and demanded him to say on camera that he would refrain from his political activity. He also said that his detainers took his pictures, sent them to someone, got a response that Yagublu “didn’t pass the test”, and that he needed to be beaten more.
One more protestor, Popular Front member Pasha Dadashzada’s arm was broken. Another detainee, Amrah Tahmazov, reported that Dadashzada did not receive medical aid that he needed for hours in the police station they were kept together.
Whereabouts of Ismayilbayli and four Popular Front members were not clear until they were brought to a local court the day after. They were all arrested on administrative sentences, the Party members 90 days in total, and Ismayilbayli 30 days. All were charged with violating quarantine measures against COVID 19.
His family says that because of the arrest Ismayilbayli may exceed his absence limit in university classes and thus not graduate, and end up in military draft.
U.S. and UK Embassies in Baku expressed their concerns over treatment of protestors in the Baku rally. The UK Embassy called on the Azerbaijani government to investigate “reports of heavy-handed treatment and physical abuse against Tofig Yagublu and others”.
