On January 16, prominent Azerbaijani oppositionist Tofig Yagublu posted on Facebook excerpts from what he claimed to be an 18-page decision of local Baku district prosecution on his torture allegations.
Yagublu previously appealed to the prosecution with a request to launch a probe into his brutal beating dating back to December 1, 2021, in the aftermath of his detainment at a rally in defense of fellow oppositionist in prison. On January 11, he received a letter signed by the prosecutor Araz Akbarov, saying that Yagublu’s request was declined as there were no “signs of torture on his images”.
The newly sent 18-page document includes testimonies of police officers who allegedly took Yagublu in custody after the December 1 rally. According to the excerpts, publicized by Yagublu, the officers all argue that the oppositionist injured himself while he was at the police station.
One of them, quoted in the document, said: “Tofig Yagublu, while standing on the corridor of the police station, and occasionally raising his voice, hit himself on the walls and punched his face with his fists, thus attempting to inflict damages on his body.”
The document rules out Yagublu’s claim that he was taken by civilian-disguised police officers to Alat district in a van, which is 70 km far from Baku.
Yagublu mentioned in the end of his post: “There is a video proof of me being freed from the van in Alat and a proof that I made a phone call from Alat.” He added, addressing President Ilham Aliyev: “Ilham Aliyev, look how many officers agreed to loss of their dignity because of your order of such a crime.”
