Two people — Ibrahim Asadli and Abdulla Ibrahimli — have been detained in Baku, ostensibly for appearing in a video showing celebrations for the 108th anniversary of the October Revolution.
The two were detained on Wednesday, the pro-government media outlet Qafqazinfo reported, two days after the video was widely circulated on social media.
In the footage, a group of people are seen marching with Soviet Union and Azerbaijani SSR flags through one of the parks in Baku’s Nizami District.
Qafqazinfo reported that Asadli and Ibrahimli were identified by the Interior Ministry as the organisers behind the march, after which a criminal case was opened against them.
‘A preliminary investigation revealed that these individuals rented an office with the support and funding of another state, operated as part of a group, and periodically held meetings’, Qafqazinfo wrote.
Details about which country was allegedly funding the group have not been disclosed.
It was reported that during the subsequent raid on participants’ offices and apartments, numerous materials — including flags, copies of books promoting radicalism and communism, CDs, and other electronic devices — were discovered and seized.
The investigation is ongoing.
Speaking with OC Media on the condition of anonymity, a friend of Asadli alleged that the real reason behind Asadli’s detention was his ongoing dispute with the Health Ministry.
‘Asadli stated that the recovery procedures of the Oncology Institute are wrong, that the institute forced cancer patients to undergo chemotherapy and surgery, which he was against’.
Asadli’s friend said that the event was organised on 7 November on the day the October Revolution’s anniversary, not on 24 November as the circulated video implied. They also noted that pro-government media claimed the person who funded Asadli was Ilia Kleimenov, the deputy head of the Russian Communist Parties Union.
‘Kleimenov traveled to Azerbaijan many times and he met with the many officials in Azerbaijan. Now pro-government media claims that this person funded Asadli, which is false’, they stated.
Asadli’s friend noted that another participant who wished to remain anonymous due to fears over his security had told him that after he was summoned by police, he was told that if the video had not been published on social media, there would not have been any problems.
According to Asadli’s friend, police became aware of the video following a complaint from the pro-government media outlet Haqqin.az.
Separately, the chair of the Council of Veterans of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party, Arif Rahimzada, claimed the two detentions should not be considered important, alleging that everyone was free to express their opinion in Azerbaijan.
Current legislation does not prohibit Soviet or communist symbols within Azerbaijan.
However, this is not the first time the use of Soviet Union flags have led to criminal prosecution in Azerbaijan.
In May, Saleh Samadov, the former chair of the Imishli District Council of Elders, was arrested after speaking during an event commemorating the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazism in World War II. Samadov had attended the event holding a Soviet Union flag and wearing the St. George ribbon — a symbol of the Russian Empire. According to Okhu.az, the Imishli District Court remanded Samadov to four months of pretrial detention on separate charges of tax evasion.
Vafa Naghiyeva
