A man, who allegedly whipped people who came to a public event of Russian-Azerbaijani blogger Huseyn Hasanov in “Park Bulvar” shopping mall, was arrested by police on April 18. The press service of the Interior Ministry released a statement on the issue:
“Baku resident Arif Ibrahimov said in his testimony that he hit the stage, not the people, with the belt. Nevertheless, Ibrahimov was administratively detained for 15 days.”
Interior Ministry
On April 17, videos of severe overcrowding at “Park Bulvar” shopping mall in centrum Baku, who came to attend Hasanov’s open-to-public event, emerged on social media. In one video, a man who appears to be a security guard is hitting the front of the stage, supposedly with a belt, to prevent people from climbing onto the stage. In discussions on social media, some speculated that Hasanov promised to give away Iphones at his event; thus, crowds rushed in.
Besides, in the event people were observed to violate the rules of epidemiological quarantine regime by not using face masks in closed space. The Ministry touched upon that, too:
In accordance with the requirements of the special quarantine regime, each citizen entering the shopping center was allowed to enter the enclosed space after being checked by the police at the entrance to the center, using protective medical mask and the “QR” code of the certificate confirming vaccination. However, visitors to the mall took off their medical masks after entering the facility. The use of medical masks by people inside large shopping malls is monitored by the facility’s staff.
– the statement read.
It was noted that the staff of the facility where the incident took place are being investigated and appropriate measures will be taken depending on the results.
