ARRESTS IN AUGUST 2020
23 August
The number of mosque prisoners is growing
Mosque in the settlement of Nardaran
The closure of mosques due to the quarantine confinement in Azerbaijan has caused a great deal of resentment among believers.
According to Vetenugrunda.az reports from the regions, the worshippers protesters have undergone detention all over the country. In particular, Aykhan Jamalov and Eldar Mammadov from the Shamkir region got 25 days of administrative arrest each for protesting against the mosques closure.
Similarly, in Barda, a former political prisoner, Elshan Abbasov, a member of the “Muslim Unity” Movement, was summoned to the police station for a brief discussion but has not yet been released. It was told to his relatives that he had been sentenced up to 30 days of administrative arrest.
A resident of Yevlakh, the poet Ghazanfar, was jailed for 15 days for posting on his personal social media page a demand requesting to open the mosques.
Behbud Imanov, a resident of Lerik, was detained on administrative grounds for 20 days. He was organizing a religious meeting at his house.
Eight people were brought to the police department in the Lankaran district. Seven of them were released the same day but the theologian Seyid Javid Miriyev was sentenced to 10 days under administrative arrest.
There are also reports concerning 20 believers in Beylaqan district who were first detained, then fined and released. In Ganja, 6 people were released after being interrogated in the police department.
On 21 August, in the evening, the police detained and took to the police department 6 believers who were on their way to a mosque in Javad village in the Sabirabad District. The worshippers were fined 200 manats after which they were let going home.
Last week, Elchin Qasymov, the deputy chairman of the Muslim Unity Movement (MUM), was also summoned to the Sabunchi district police department following his speech regarding mosque closures and the banning of religious month Maharram ceremonies.
During a briefing session of the operational staff within the Cabinet of Ministers, it was stated that the opening of mosques was not planned till the end of the year.
Elchin Qasymov, the deputy chairman of the MUM, wrote in his statement,
“Once the quarantine in other countries has been eased, the places of worship were handed over to the worshippers. We would like to see the activities in mosques restored with certain measures aimed at preventing the pandemic in our country.”
At the operational headquarters briefing on quarantine, it was announced that the opening of mosques prior to the end of the year was non-negotiable. This opinion is biased. For no one can predict the course of the ongoing illness. There is enough time. Maybe in a week or month it will be possible to find some remedy to prevent this disease.
The mosques may also be opened according to the rules in force in other countries. The communities of all mosques, as well as those rendering services in the mosques, may regulate these procedures by controlling the wearing of medical masks, the observance of the necessary distance between worshippers, disinfection…”.
After being interrogated in the Sabunchi district police department, E. Qasymov shared that information on his social media page. According to the theologian, he was told by the police that the Caucasus Board of Muslims had a decision regarding the mosques and religious rituals to be followed. It was also forewarned that the police would interfere in gatherings of believers that were not authorized.
27 August
Another believer was sentenced to 15 days of administrative arrest in the town of Yevlakh
Abdulrahim Shahverdiyev
According to the Vetenugrunda.az, on 27 August Abdulrahim Shahverdiyev, a resident of Yevlakh District, was sentenced to 15 days of administrative arrest for expressing his protest against the ban on attending mosque and participating in Ashura religious event on his social network page. It should be pointed out that it is the second believer who has been issued an administrative sanction for protesting against the closure of mosques in the Yevlakh District on a social network. Earlier, the poet Ghazanfar Fardi, a resident of Yevlakh, was sentenced to 15 days of administrative arrest for a similar protest against the closure of mosques on a social network.
Aykhan Jamalov and Eldar Mammadov from Shamkir district were each sentenced to 25 days of administrative arrest for protesting against the closure of mosques.
Also, it became known that the theologian, Tahir Ibishov, was sentenced to 25 days of administrative detention for organizing a religious meeting in his house in Saatly District.
31 August
Faliq Valiyev trained as a terrorist and diversionist has been detained and taken to Azerbaijan
Faliq Valiyev
As a result of the investigation of the State Security Service of the Azerbaijan, reasonable suspicions were established that a citizen of the Azerbaijan, Faliq Valiyev, was trained in the use of methods of committing terrorist crimes, using firearms, explosives and devices, as well as other dangerous methods and technical means to violate public security, to create panic among the population, to influence decision-making by state bodies, as well as he was involved by foreign special services in exercises of an intelligence and provocative nature, under a personal pseudonym, and he took part in the activities of an illegal armed group created for the purpose of committing serious and especially serious crimes outside the country. Faliq Valiyev was brought as a defendant under articles 12.1, 218.2 (Participation in a criminal association or organization), 12.3, 214-3.1 (Training outside of the Azerbaijan Republic for the purposes of terrorism) and 12.1, 279.1 (Participation in the activities of armed groups not provided for by legislation outside of the Azerbaijan Republic) of the Criminal code of the Azerbaijan Republic, according to the judicial court he was imposed a pre-trial resistant and announced for international search.
After Faliq Valiyev entered the territory of the Russian Federation, he was detained under the mutual legal assistance procedure for international search and extradited to the Azerbaijan on 27 August 2020.
The criminal investigation is currently ongoing.