Azerbaijani police officer caught on camera beating 12-year-old boy

Police officers have been filmed attacking a 12-year-old boy in Northern Azerbaijan, with local reports indicating that the child, his father, and uncle, were all detained following the incident.

On Sunday, footage surfaced on social media showing officers attacking a boy, identified as 12-year-old Deniz Aghayev, and his father, Sakhavat Aghayev, in the village of Vandam in Gabala District.

In the video, a uniformed police officer is seen kicking Deniz Aghayev while he is on the ground, and then picking him up by his collar and dragging him to a police car, where another police officer is seen attacking Sakhavat Aghayev. 

The police issued a statement later on Sunday claiming they were attempting to arrest Sakhavat Aghayev for driving under the influence and ‘creating a dangerous situation in a public place’.

‘During the arrest, his close relatives and the minor who was with him resisted the police officers, tried to injure [the police officer] with a stone and damage his official car’, read the statement.

One resident of Vandam told Meydan TV that the Aghayev family were celebrating Deniz’s 12th birthday, and that Sakhavat Aghayev came to blows with the police after they had told him to keep the noise down.

‘When [the officer] tried to take his father away, the kid started crying. The police started beating the father in front of the child’, they were quoted as saying.

‘Then the child threw stones at the police. One of the police officers came up, knocked Deniz to the ground and kicked him hard.’

The anonymous source also added that the police detained Sakhavat Aghayev, his brother Eldeniz, and Deniz. Deniz was released later that night.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs said they had identified the officer who beat Deniz Aghayev and fired him for ‘overstepping the limits of his authority’.

They added that two people were detained in the incident, presumably Sakhavat and Eldeniz Aghayev.

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