IWPR



Public outcry after footage emerges of officers beating man for
violating lockdown.




Public outcry after footage emerges of officers beating man for
violating lockdown.
By IWPR

Civil society activists in Azerbaijan have accused the government of
using the coronavirus quarantine as a means of facilitating and
excusing police violence.

On June 7, footage emerged of police beating and forcibly detaining a
citizen who was putting out the rubbish in front of his building in
the Yasamal district of Baku. They claimed he was violating quarantine
rules.

In the video, neighbours looking out at the scene started throwing
rubbish at the police car to protest the violence.

The following day, the police themselves broadcast footage of a raid
at the same address in whihc they dragged out 11 people, some only
half-dressed.

Gular Suleymanova, a resident of the building, said that the police
had not even allowed her son to put his clothes on.

“My son was taken out of  bed, beaten and not allowed to get dressed,”
she said. “Although we said that there were children and they would be
afraid, they didn't pay attention. They beat my son at the 29th police
station, his eyes are black and there are signs of violence on his
body.

“If someone violates the quarantine or protests, they need to explain
their mistakes in words or punish them in some other way. Aren't these
people criminals? Such violence does not fit into any law,”
Suleymanova said, adding that she had filed a complaint against the
police for their actions.

Javad Javadov, a lawyer providing the family with legal assistance,
said that Article 25, paragraph four of the law on police prohibited
officers from entering a house wthout a warrant.

“The entry of police into homes violates [citizens’] right to the
inviolability of the home,” he continued. “Certain conditions must be
observed when the police enter the apartment.”

The Yasamal operation was met with great outrage on social media, with
many people using the hashtag End to Police Violence, and a number of
activists and journalists launched petitions.

Investigative journalist Khadija Ismayil, along with several human
rights activists, signed a letter of complaint to the prosecutor
general’s office over the alleged police violence.

“We demand that legal action be taken so that violent police do not go
unpunished,” she said. “We don't have high hopes, but we still want
the new prosecutor general to do his job. If he does not, we will
continue legal proceedings and complain about the inaction of the
prosecutor’s office.”

Well-known activists and former poitical prisoners also joined the protests.

Giyas Ibrahimov, who was detained in May 2016 after he and a friend
wrote “Happy Slaves’ Day” in Azeri on a monument to ex-president
Heydar Aliyev, hung a banner from his roof reading “Statue Prisoner”
to protest the violence.

Police arrived shortly afterwards and arrested Ibrahimov, detaining
him for several hours before fining him 50 manat (30 dollars) and
releasing him.

“I was protesting against police brutality and they were ordered to
detain me... and even after being detained, struck me,’’ Ibrahimov
told IWPR.

Activist Bakhtiyar Hajiyev said that given that people in Azerbaijan
were persecuted for the slightest ctiticism or infraction of the rules
– and the lack of an avenue for legitimate, peaceful protest – the
outcry came as no surprise.
“In many countries around the world, both government officials and law
enforcement officers are attacked with eggs, tomatoes or rubbish bags
when they take steps that anger citizens,” he said. “All this is
happening in countries where the population has the freedom of
peaceful assembly. In this case, officials think, ‘What mistakes have
we made against a citizen that there is such a harsh reaction?’”

Political commentator Arastun Orujlu said that the government’s goal
was to completely subjugate all protest, especially among the
opposition.

“This pandemic period in Azerbaijan has been used for many political
purposes,” he continued. “The authorities punished many dissenting,
free-thinking people. There were those who were arrested and fined.
For example, the police violence in Yasamal was a provocation. The
police could detain the person who violated the quarantine rules and
tell him to go home quietly.

The government is using this period to exert pressure by showing its
power,” he continued. “They know that the population is exhausted and
they are intimidated. There are only political motives in events in
Azerbaijan - either intimidation or protest.”