Azerbaijani rapper Akbar Novruzlu Epi has been found guilty of illegal possession of drugs for personal use and petty hooliganism, and sentenced to a month in prison. However, independent media outlet Meydan TV claimed that he was jailed because he criticised Pasha Bank and Kapital Bank, which are partially owned by the family members of President Ilham Aliyev, during a rap battle.
Pasha Bank and Kapital Bank are owned by Pasha Holding, whose shareholders also include Aliyev’s daughters.
Originally, pro-government media outlet Qafqazinfo reported that Epi was arrested ‘for using offensive and vulgar expressions’ during a battle. ‘The battle was disseminated on social media, and his remarks were not taken as unambiguous by viewers’.
However, Meydan TV claimed the rapper was reportedly arrested for statements he made about the banks during a rap battle on Baku Boulevard several days ago. Videos are circulating on social media indicating that the reason for the arrest was Epi's words spoken on stage to rapper Parviz Guluzada Paster.
‘“You were a radical too. At one time, you wrote a diss about Pasha Bank, and now you were sitting on the lap of Kapital Bank”, Epi rapped during his rap battle’, wrote Meydan TV.
In the comments to the news on social networks, viewers said that foul language in the battle is acceptable, and this should be a normal phenomenon in rap.
Epi also apologised for his remarks on Wednesday, saying that he was sorry if he had disturbed anyone’s family with his foul language. ‘There is a certain amount of rudeness in our profession. Of course, it is unintentional. I will be more careful in my future work’.
Epi’s arrest was the second in connection with criticism of Pasha Bank.
According to Qafqazinfo, Paster was arrested five years ago for petty hooliganism and disobeying an order to the police.
His arrest came shortly after he had released a rap that contained the phrase, ‘I will take over the country, like Pasha Bank did’.
YouTube users noted in comments under the video that it had been made unavailable after his arrest.
However, in recent years, Paster has refrained from criticising the bank, and according to Meydan TV, has become the face of Kapital Bank advertising.
Aytan Farhadova
