Azerbaijan’s Human Rights Commissioner Sabina Aliyeva has called on her Montenegrin counterpart Siniša Bjeković to personally supervise the condition of Azerbaijani nationals detained following the stabbing of a man in the country’s capital, Podgorica.
The Human Rights Commissioner’s press service told pro-government media outlet APA that in her Tuesday letter to Bjeković, Aliyeva requested that the matter be taken under Bjeković’s supervision, and that the rights of detained Azerbaijanis be ‘ensured in accordance with Montenegro’s national legislation as well as international human rights obligations’.
Aliyeva called on Bjeković to ensure the detainees’ presumption of innocence, access to legal assistance, and the right to use interpreters. She additionally highlighted the ‘necessity of preventing any discrimination, hate speech, or hostile attitudes based on ethnic, national, or religious grounds’.
According to Reuters, the Montenegrin man was stabbed on Saturday night after an exchange of insults with a ‘group of Turkish citizens’. They reported that his injuries were not serious. They added that two suspects, an Azerbaijani national and a Turkish national, were detained for their involvement in the stabbing.
Montenegrin daily Vijesti has reported that a total of 45 people — both Turkish and Azerbaijani citizens — were detained and were ‘subject to criminal processing, as well as checks regarding the legality of their stay on the territory of Montenegro’.
Following the incident, Montenegro temporarily suspended its visa-free regime with Turkey.
It is yet unclear how many Azerbaijani nationals are currently in Montenegrin detention.
Nate Ostiller
